Colombia's days-old government faces its first major crisis after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake killed at least 71 people and flattened buildings across the west of the country on August 10, forcing President Abelardo De la Espriella to declare a national disaster just three days after his inauguration.

The quake struck at 7:34am local time near San José del Palmar in Chocó department, according to the Servicio Geológico Colombiano (Colombian Geological Service, SGC). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the same magnitude at a depth of 107km, deep enough to spread shaking as far as Bogotá, Ecuador and Panama. The SGC called it the strongest earthquake to hit Colombia in a decade.

Cali, Manizales, Pereira and Quibdó sustained the heaviest damage, with buildings collapsed or badly cracked, including Manizales' cathedral. Rescue teams were still pulling survivors from rubble in Cali as this went to press. The toll, tracked jointly by Colombia's association of capital-city mayors and the national disaster agency, climbed steadily through the day, from an initial 20 to at least 71, with 29 of those deaths in departmental capitals, according to CNN en Español. The Washington Post put the figure at 73, citing local authorities. Given the pace of the search operation, both numbers are likely to rise further.

Scale matters here. The USGS's PAGER system, which forecasts likely casualties and losses from seismic data, put the odds of a final toll between 100 and 1,000 dead at 35%, and estimated economic losses of up to $1bn, or under 1% of Colombia's GDP. That compares with the two earthquakes that killed more than 6,000 people in neighbouring Venezuela in June, a reminder that damage depends as much on building codes and depth as on raw magnitude.

De la Espriella, sworn in on August 7, moved quickly to make the response his own. He convened a Unified Command Post at the UNGRD (Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres, the National Disaster Risk Management Unit) in Bogotá, then declared a "desastre de carácter nacional", a legal status that lets the government issue emergency decrees, redirect budget and adjust taxes to fund relief. He said he would travel to San José del Palmar and Pereira and pledged support for Chocó and the coffee-growing region.

Intellinews correspondent in Bogotá, present for the president's remarks, reported De la Espriella privately citing a toll as high as 111, considerably above the officially confirmed count of 71 at time of writing. That figure has not been corroborated by any other outlet and should be treated with caution pending an official update.

Foreign governments moved fast to offer help. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was "closely monitoring" the situation and stood ready to support Bogotá, urging Americans in Colombia to register with the State Department. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum offered "all the support" Colombia needs. Ecuador's Daniel Noboa offered 47 search-and-rescue personnel with sniffer dogs and seven days of operational autonomy, while El Salvador's Nayib Bukele pledged medical and rescue teams. Bogotá mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said the capital escaped structural damage and offered 100 rescuers to the affected regions.

The disaster is an early test for De la Espriella, who took office on a security-focused platform after securing a $1bn US package for that agenda. How his government handles reconstruction, and whether the death toll settles closer to the official count or the higher figure cited privately, will shape perceptions of his first weeks in power.