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At least 224 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, with rescue teams continuing to search collapsed buildings for survivors on Tuesday.

The earthquake struck at 7:34 am local time on Monday, with Cali, Pereira and parts of the Choco region among the worst affected areas.

Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as emergency teams reach more affected communities and assess the extent of the destruction.

Cali authorities reported 35 deaths, while officials in the Risaralda region, where Pereira is located, confirmed at least 40 deaths. Nine people were also reported killed in Choco, two in Caldas and one in Antioquia.

At least 700 people were injured in Valle del Cauca alone, according to President Abelardo de la Espriella, who declared a national state of emergency and said the government’s priority was to rescue people trapped under rubble.

More than 1,600 buildings were reportedly damaged or destroyed, including parts of a historic cathedral in Manizales.

Several upper floors of a hospital in Cali also collapsed, trapping some patients and forcing about 600 others to receive treatment outside amid the debris.

Rescue operations continued overnight and into Tuesday, with soldiers, firefighters, emergency workers, volunteers and relatives searching through collapsed buildings.

In Cali, volunteers formed human chains to remove concrete and other debris by hand, while rescue teams repeatedly stopped to listen for survivors.

Firefighters rescued two women and two children from a collapsed building, while rescuers in Pereira were reportedly in contact with a boy trapped beneath a bakery as cranes were used to remove unstable sections of the building.

Authorities have also deployed engineers, rescue workers and search dogs to Choco, where the scale of the destruction remains unclear because many communities are remote and difficult to reach.

The United States Geological Survey identified San Jose del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people, as the epicentre. The area is about 400km west of the capital, Bogota.

Colombia’s Geological Service reported 21 aftershocks by late Monday and warned that further tremors were possible.

The rescue effort has been complicated by the geography of Choco, where some communities can only be reached by boat or aircraft.

The government has also imposed nighttime curfews in Cali, Armenia and Manizales, while hospitals in five cities were placed on red alert.

Operations at airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura were suspended temporarily to allow structural inspections.

Authorities postponed the Petronio Alvarez Music Festival in Cali, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, as well as professional football matches.

International assistance has also begun. The United States announced $15.5m in emergency aid for shelters, food and other relief, while the European Union activated its Copernicus satellite service to support rescue operations.

El Salvador and Mexico also offered to provide rescue teams, medical personnel, supplies and other assistance.

Rescuers are expected to face a critical window in the coming hours as they continue searching for people trapped beneath the rubble.

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United States President Donald Trump secretly switched aircraft after leaving a NATO summit in Turkey last month amid a reported Iranian threat to target his plane, according to the BBC.

The elaborate security operation reportedly involved Trump being moved from Air Force One to a smaller military aircraft using a catering truck, while journalists and some White House staff travelling with him were unaware of the switch.

US officials told CBS News that American intelligence had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the aircraft.

The White House has not directly confirmed that the secret plane switch was carried out because of an Iranian missile threat.

Trump had earlier warned during the summit in Ankara that he was Iran’s “number one target”.

The reported operation took place on 8 July, a day after the US resumed military strikes against Iran following the collapse of negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Trump had arrived in Turkey aboard a newer Boeing 747-8 aircraft donated by Qatar. However, he announced that he would leave Turkey aboard the older Air Force One “for old time’s sake”.

Footage showed Trump boarding the presidential aircraft at Ankara airport. However, according to a report by the Washington Post cited by the BBC, he was later secretly transferred to a C-32A military aircraft, a modified Boeing 757 commonly used by the vice-president.

The transfer was reportedly carried out using a catering truck that had been raised to the level of the aircraft on the opposite side of the plane from where Trump had initially boarded.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly boarded the C-32A separately using external stairs, helping make the operation appear routine.

Meanwhile, journalists and some White House staff boarded Air Force One and were instructed to keep the aircraft’s window shades closed. They reportedly did not know that Trump was no longer on board.

Trump flew aboard the C-32A to the UK before returning to the older Air Force One. He was later seen leaving the aircraft after it landed at RAF Mildenhall.

It remains unclear how Trump was transferred back to the older presidential aircraft.

He subsequently boarded the Qatar-donated Boeing 747-8 for the final leg of his journey to Washington.

During that flight, Trump spoke to reporters about the security threat but did not reveal details of the earlier aircraft switch.

When asked why reporters had been instructed to lower the window shades during the flight from Turkey, Trump said they were “probably on a dangerous flight” because of threats he faced.

He also said he faced a threat “all the time” and described himself as “number one” on Iran’s list.

US intelligence had previously warned of a specific threat against Trump or his aircraft, according to earlier CBS News reporting.

The New York Times had also reported concerns about the security of the Qatar-donated aircraft, including claims that the Secret Service had urged Trump to switch planes after the NATO summit.

The reports come amid wider scrutiny of the $400m Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar. The aircraft is undergoing modifications to prepare it for presidential use.

Older Air Force One aircraft are equipped with advanced defensive systems, including technology designed to counter incoming missiles. It remains unclear what comparable systems are currently installed on the Qatar-donated aircraft.

White House communications director Steven Cheung did not directly confirm or deny the reported plane switch. He said the new aircraft was equipped with advanced security measures to protect the president and his staff.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said the new Air Force One was “perfectly safe” for the president’s travels, while noting that additional upgrades were planned.

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Colombia on Monday declared a state of emergency following a powerful earthquake that caused at least 111 deaths and flattened dozens of buildings, trapping more victims underneath.

The 7.4-magnitude quake struck western Colombia at 7:34 am (1234 GMT) and triggered a frantic search for survivors in several cities.

“The national government is maintaining all its capacities deployed to protect lives, assist affected communities and deliver aid to every area that needs it,” President Abelardo de la Espriella stated from Bogota.

The leader appointed just three days ago reported 111 deaths, 87 people injured and over 1,000 buildings were damaged.

The quake’s epicenter was in Colombia’s coastal Choco region at a depth of 100 kilometers (60 miles). Authorities in the impoverished area reported 12 deaths.

The nearby city of Pereira was one of the worst-hit areas, with local authorities earlier announcing that at least 40 people had died in the Risaralda region of which it is the provincial capital.

The quake crumpled a tower of a beloved cathedral in the city of Manizales, an AFP journalist observed.

“A great many buildings” in the city sustained damage, said administrative worker Jaime Zuluaga, 50. “Traffic is paralyzed and people don’t want to go back to their homes for fear of an aftershock.”

– ‘Missing people’ –

At least 20 buildings crumbled in Colombia’s third-largest city, Cali, trapping people beneath the debris, Mayor Alejandro Eder said.

Choco’s governor warned of serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where videos showed more buildings reduced to rubble.

“We are all devastated,” Quibdo community leader Luis Gregorio Moreno told AFP.

“At this moment there are reported deaths, dozens of wounded, but what there are most of are missing people,” he said.

Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela also felt the early-morning quake, which prompted building evacuations in the Colombian capital, Bogota.

Still wearing their pajamas, crowds of people rushed out into the street upon feeling the tremor, AFP reporters saw.

“The quake was very, very strong,” said content creator Valeria Polo, 29, in the capital, where only minimal damage was recorded.

Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said, and the soccer governing body postponed upcoming football matches.

Washington is “closely monitoring the large earthquake that struck Colombia and stands ready to support the people of Colombia,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was “ready to provide more support” to the South American country.

“We have already mobilised Copernicus, our satellite service, to help with rescue operations,” she wrote on social media.

Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.

Latin America is already reeling from two disastrous quakes that struck Venezuela in June, killing more than 6,000 people and causing widespread destruction.

AFP