Bogotá.- The mayor of the Colombian city of Pereira, Mauricio Salazar, declared a curfew this Monday to prevent looting following the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook much of the country and has left a partial death toll of 111 in several regions.
“Starting today at six in the evening, we have decreed a curfew until five in the morning to protect the city’s commerce. This curfew will be in the center of Pereira, in the Comuna Universidad, and in the Cuba sub-center,” stated the mayor with a choked voice.
Salazar’s voice also broke when he took stock of the people who died in his city, the capital of the Risaralda department, one of the five most affected by the earthquake, along with those of Valle del Cauca, Chocó, Caldas, and Quindío.
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“We have already reached nearly 55 deaths, some hospital centers have collapsed given the demand, we have 18 buildings that have been reported as completely collapsed and 60 buildings that have been partially affected,” added the mayor of Pereira, a city of nearly 490,000 inhabitants.
The earthquake had its epicenter in the town of San José del Palmar in the department of Chocó, which borders Risaralda and Valle del Cauca to the east, at a depth of 103 kilometers, according to the Colombian Geological Service (SGC).
