At least 132 people have been killed and more than 570 injured by a powerful earthquake in western Colombia, and a state of emergency has been declared. The BBC revised the death toll sharply upwards from 111 on Tuesday, and Ada Derana later put the number of injured above 570, citing the Colombian government. Officials warn the figures are likely to rise further, with people still believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings.

President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national disaster on Monday, when the confirmed toll stood at 111.

The magnitude 7.4 quake struck at 7.34 a.m. local time (12.34 GMT) at a depth of about 103 kilometres, according to Colombia’s geological service, which described it as the strongest earthquake recorded in the country in a decade. Its epicentre was near the village of San José del Palmar in Chocó province, on the Pacific coast, roughly 400 kilometres west of Bogotá.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in Pereira, a city in Colombia’s coffee-growing region, the BBC reported, with further preliminary reports of fatalities in Manizales, Quibdó, Medellín and across the Chocó and Valle del Cauca regions.

In Cali, the country’s third-largest city, Mayor Alejandro Eder said at least 20 structures had collapsed with people trapped inside, and requested rescue teams from Bogotá and Medellín. Colombia’s civil aviation authority suspended flights at six airports — Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura — while inspectors checked for structural damage.

The tremor was felt hundreds of kilometres away in the capital, where buildings were evacuated. Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said no serious structural damage had been reported there and that the city’s resources were available to affected regions. The United States tsunami warning system said there was no tsunami threat.

A vulnerable region

Al Jazeera reported that much of Chocó, one of Colombia’s poorest regions, is rural and reachable only by boat or plane, which may slow efforts to establish the full extent of the damage.

Quakes of magnitude 6.0 or above are rare in Colombia, though a 6.2 tremor in the same coffee-growing region in 1999 killed more than 1,000 people. Monday’s earthquake follows two powerful quakes that struck neighbouring Venezuela in late June, which killed more than 6,000 people.

Governments including France, El Salvador and Italy offered condolences and assistance, according to Al Jazeera.

Update — toll rises to 132, curfew in Pereira

The death toll climbed to at least 132 by Tuesday morning, with more than 480 people injured, according to a statement from Colombia’s Association of Capital Cities cited by the BBC. The Daily Mirror and Hiru News carried the revised figure in Sri Lanka.

Pereira, about 55 kilometres from the epicentre, remains the worst-affected city. Local authorities have reported at least 40 dead in its metropolitan area and 65 collapsed buildings, with people believed to be trapped in 15 of them. A curfew is in force in parts of the city until 5.00 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

Thirty-two buildings collapsed in Cali, about 160 kilometres south of Pereira. At least two people died in Manizales.

At the epicentre itself, near the village of San José del Palmar, mayor León Fabio Marín Moncada said there had been no deaths or injuries despite the roads in and out being damaged.

Hiru News reported that the tremor was also felt in neighbouring Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.

Note: the per-city figures reported so far are preliminary and do not add up to the national total.

Update — injured count passes 570

Ada Derana reported on Tuesday that the number of people injured had risen to more than 570, citing the latest update from the Colombian government. The death toll was unchanged at 132.

The higher injury figure has not yet been reflected by the international outlets carrying the story: the BBC’s report still gave 480 injured when checked on Tuesday, and Al Jazeera’s article page had not been revised beyond its earlier count. Readers should treat 570 as the most recent figure available rather than a consolidated one, and the total is likely to move again.

Ada Derana repeated the depth of 103 kilometres given by Colombia’s geological service, and said the state of emergency remains in effect.