Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority (Aerocivil) suspended flight operations at seven airports on Monday after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the western part of the country.

At least 132 have died and 570 have been injured as a result of the magnitude 7.4 quake, including 60 deaths in the western city of Pereira alone, according to an update from the Colombian Association of Capital Cities Monday evening. These figures are likely to rise as rescue operations continue.     

The seven affected airports are Matecaña International in Pereira, La Nubia in Manizales, El Edén in Armenia, El Caraño in Quibdó, Santa Ana in Cartago, Gerardo Tobar López in Buenaventura, and Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International in Cali. The Cali airport, which had around 150 flights scheduled for the day, was added to the closure list after Aerocivil reported it had also been affected, making it the largest airport shut so far. 

The quake's epicentre was in San José del Palmar, a rural community in Chocó province about 250 miles west of Bogotá, according to the US Geological Survey and Colombia's geological service. USGS also recorded a magnitude-5.0 aftershock less than an hour later. Colombia's Geological Service described it as the highest-magnitude earthquake registered in the country in the last decade. 

De La Espriella declared a national disaster to mobilise and coordinate emergency efforts and said he had personally taken charge of the response in San José del Palmar, ordering the establishment of a unified command. No structural damage was reported in the capital, Bogotá, Mayor Carlos F. Galán said. 

Aerocivil said more than ten airports nationwide reported some degree of damage and urged passengers with flights to or from the affected cities to contact their airlines directly and avoid travelling to the closed airports until operations are officially confirmed to resume. 

Officials called it the largest quake to hit Colombia on record. The tremor was felt as far away as Venezuela, which was struck by devastating earthquakes of its own in June that killed more than 6,000 people. 

Sources: Reuters/CBS News/CBC News/CNN