Rescue crews continued to search through heaps of rubble for survivors after the deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit Colombia on Monday.
The quake, the strongest to strike Colombia in at least a decade, occurred on Monday at 07:34 local time near San José del Palmar in the western department of Chocó on the country’s Pacific coast, at a depth of 103 kilometers (64 miles).
According to Reuters calculations based on data released by affected municipalities, the death toll has reached 254. Among the victims, 101 lived in Pereira, in the heart of the “coffee region,” and 95 in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city with 2.2 million residents.
Meanwhile, unofficial estimates, based on an online platform where residents report missing loved ones, indicate that the fate of nearly four thousand people remains unknown. Experts consider the first 72 hours after a major earthquake to be the critical window for locating and rescuing survivors. Once this timeframe passes, the chances of survival drop precipitously.
Professional rescuers, volunteers, military personnel, search dogs, and heavy machinery are working tirelessly amid the debris. At the same time, locals are handing out food and water to victims and emergency crews in an outpouring of solidarity following the tragedy.
Parts of Colombia’s Cali look as though they were bombed
From above, parts of Cali look as though they were bombed. Mountains of rubble now gape where homes and buildings once stood. On the streets, crushed cars resemble discarded toys, buried beneath collapsed walls and massive slabs of concrete.
Using pickaxes, shovels, and their bare hands, residents have stepped in to help, forming human chains to clear away debris. “We’re working together with the hope of saving even a single life,” explained Javier Muñoz.
Hospitals in Cali were also severely damaged. A section of the university hospital collapsed, forcing doctors to evacuate patients and, in some cases, treat them in adjacent gardens.
Across the hardest-hit cities of Cali, Pereira, and Manizales in the tourist coffee region, as well as Quibdó, a municipal association reported at least 1,600 injured and over 240 demolished buildings.
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