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Powerful 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Western Colombia

35 sources across 21 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • G1 Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Globo (Marinho family)
  • UOL Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Folha
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • elDiarioAR Argentina · Centre-left · Newsroom-majority owned, membership funded
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • La Nacion Argentina · Centre-right · Saguier family
  • El Espectador Colombia · Centre-left · Grupo Santo Domingo
  • La Silla Vacia Colombia · Centre · Foundation-owned
  • El Tiempo Colombia · Centre-right · Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo (Grupo Aval)
  • Der Spiegel Germany · Centre-left · ~50% staff-owned
  • Deutsche Welle Germany · Centre · Public · German federal public-law corporation
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • France 24 France · Centre · Public · France Medias Monde (French state holding)
  • Tempo English Indonesia · Centre-left · PT Tempo Inti Media
  • The Jakarta Post Indonesia · Centre-left · PT Bina Media Tenggara
  • The Times of Israel Israel · Centre · Seth Klarman (majority backer)
  • The Jerusalem Post Israel · Centre-right · Mirkaei Tikshoret (Eli Azur)
  • ANSA Italy · Centre · Publisher cooperative
  • Corriere della Sera Italy · Centre-right · RCS MediaGroup (Cairo Communication)
  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • Telex Hungary · Centre · Reader-funded, staff-owned
  • The Indian Express India · Centre · Indian Express Group (Goenka family)
  • The Japan Times Japan · Centre · News2u Holdings
  • NRC Netherlands · Centre · Mediahuis
  • Aftenposten Norway · Centre-right · Schibsted, Tinius Trust foundation
  • Dawn Pakistan · Centre-left · Pakistan Herald Publications (Haroon family)
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • Daily Maverick South Africa · Centre-left · Reader-funded
  • El Pais Spain · Centre-left · Grupo PRISA
  • Bangkok Post Thailand · Centre · Post Publishing PCL
  • CNN United States · Centre-left · Warner Bros. Discovery

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, leaving at least 111 to 132 people dead and hundreds more injured. The epicenter was located near San José del Palmar in the Chocó department, with the tremor felt across much of Colombia and in neighboring Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The Colombian Geological Service described it as the strongest earthquake recorded in the country during the 21st century, while other reports noted it as the strongest in a decade. The quake occurred at a depth of approximately 96 to 110 kilometers.

Significant destruction was reported in cities including Cali, Pereira, and Manizales. In Cali, multiple buildings collapsed, and the mayor implemented a curfew and military presence to prevent looting. In Manizales, the towers of the Metropolitan Basilica Cathedral were damaged. Infrastructure impacts included the closure of six regional airports for structural inspections and the disruption of several national road corridors due to landslides. Power outages affected roughly 18 percent of the national demand.

President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on Friday, declared a national state of emergency. He visited Quibdó and Cali, promising rent subsidies for those who lost their homes and prioritizing the rescue of people trapped under rubble. International aid was offered by the United States, Mexico, and the European Union. The United States specifically pledged 15.5 million dollars for emergency supplies.

Reporting on the event varied by political lean. Center-left outlets emphasized the tragedy's impact on the impoverished Chocó region and highlighted a perceived institutional vacuum caused by political friction between the new president and the previous administration. Center and center-right outlets focused more on the logistical response of the new government, the scale of the infrastructure damage, and the historical seismic context of the region.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
These outlets focused on the systemic poverty of the affected Chocó region and the potential administrative failures resulting from political conflict between the incoming and outgoing presidents.
Centre
These outlets provided a balanced account of the human toll, personal survivor testimonies, and the government's immediate emergency measures.
Centre-right
These outlets emphasized the technical specifications of the earthquake, the leadership of the new president, and the specific details of the security and infrastructure response.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.