by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

BOGOTA, Colombia (Worthy News) – A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia Monday, collapsing buildings, trapping residents beneath rubble, disrupting airports and sending tremors across much of the country and into neighboring Venezuela.

Colombia’s Geological Service placed the epicenter near San José del Palmar in the Pacific-coast department of Chocó and said the earthquake struck at a depth of roughly 96 kilometers, or 60 miles. The magnitude was initially reported lower before authorities revised it upward to 7.4.

Initial reports confirmed deaths in Manizales, while officials in Cali reported at least 20 collapsed structures and people trapped beneath debris. Rescue teams were requested from Bogotá and Medellín as authorities assessed damage across western Colombia. Airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura temporarily suspended operations for structural inspections.

The earthquake was felt throughout Colombia’s 32 departmental capitals and as far away as western Venezuela. No tsunami threat was reported.

The Extraordinary Power Hidden Behind a Single Magnitude Point

Earthquake magnitude numbers can make the difference between a 5.0 and 7.0 appear relatively small. In reality, the scale is logarithmic.

The U.S. Geological Survey explains that each increase of one full magnitude represents roughly 10 times greater recorded ground-motion amplitude and approximately 32 times greater energy release.

That means the difference becomes enormous very quickly.

A magnitude 6 earthquake releases roughly 32 times the energy of a magnitude 5. A magnitude 7 releases about 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5, while a magnitude 8 releases roughly 32,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.

USGS comparisons put the explosive-equivalent energy on a staggering scale. Roughly speaking, a magnitude 5 earthquake corresponds to tens of thousands of tons of TNT, a magnitude 6 approaches the energy of roughly a million tons, a magnitude 7 reaches tens of millions of tons, and a magnitude 8 reaches roughly the billion-ton range.

In other words, when an earthquake climbs from magnitude 5 to magnitude 7 or 8, we are not discussing a modest increase. We are talking about an exponential jump in released energy.

Modern seismologists generally use moment magnitude rather than the original Richter scale for major earthquakes, although “Richter scale” remains commonly used in public conversation.

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