Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it is not aware of any Belgian victims after the earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday.
According to the Belgian authorities, 120 Belgians are staying in the area around the earthquake’s epicentre. Based on registrations through the Travellers Online system, however, the ministry believes no Belgian travellers are currently in that zone.
“In a wider region than that of the epicentre, we have 1,400 Belgians living there permanently and around 23 tourists,” the ministry added on Monday night.
Belgian authorities said they are monitoring the situation closely together with their diplomatic posts in the region, including the embassy in Bogotá.
The ministry urged Belgians in Colombia to check the updated travel advice. It also strongly encouraged travellers to register through Travellers Online and to follow instructions from local authorities carefully.
Belgians who need assistance can contact the embassy in the Colombian capital.
At least 132 people have lost their lives and more than 570 have been injured in the powerful earthquake, according to the Spanish news agency Efe and the Dutch news agency ANP, citing the Colombian Association of Capital Cities (Asocapitales).
The epicentre of this 7.4-magnitude earthquake, which was felt on Monday at 07:34 (local time, 14:34 in Belgium), was located in San José del Palmar in the department of Chocó, in western Colombia.
The tremors were felt as far away as the capital, Bogotá, nearly 500 kilometres away, and in neighbouring Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.
