BOGOTA, Aug 11 – Rescue teams across western Colombia worked through a second day on Tuesday, searching collapsed buildings and damaged homes for survivors as authorities warned that the death toll from the country’s strongest earthquake in decades could increase. The 7.4-magnitude quake struck Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland early Monday, leaving at least 164 people dead and causing widespread destruction in several cities.
Emergency crews, supported by police officers, soldiers and local volunteers, continued clearing rubble overnight. Excavators were used where possible, but rescuers also relied on their hands and basic tools as they searched unstable structures for people who might still be trapped beneath the debris.
The earthquake brought down multi-story buildings in cities including Cali and Pereira and caused serious damage to other landmarks and public facilities. In Manizales, one of the towers of a historic cathedral was badly cracked, adding to concerns about the safety of buildings that remained standing but had suffered structural damage.
Cali, a city of roughly 2.2 million people, was among the hardest-hit urban areas. At least 85 people were reported dead there, while numerous buildings were either destroyed or left dangerously tilted. Many residents remained outside, fearful that damaged structures could collapse.
The situation at one Cali hospital was particularly severe. Several upper floors, including areas used for pediatric care, collapsed during the earthquake, trapping some patients inside. Hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television that about 600 other people had to receive care outside on a street covered with rubble after the facility was damaged.
The destruction has placed enormous pressure on emergency services as medical workers attempt to treat the injured while dealing with damaged facilities and disrupted operations. Residents and volunteers have also joined professional rescue teams, helping wherever they can.
Carmen Yasmin Garcia, a 43-year-old Cali resident who was volunteering with rescue workers, described the difficult search for survivors inside a collapsed building. Garcia said her group had managed to rescue seven people, but four others and a dog were still trapped.
She said rescuers had heard scratching from beneath the rubble earlier, but the sound had stopped. Despite the uncertainty, Garcia said the volunteers continued to hope that those trapped were still alive and urged more residents to join the rescue effort with basic tools such as sticks and spades.
Pereira and Surrounding Areas Face Heavy Destruction
Pereira, the capital of Risaralda state, also suffered extensive damage. Authorities there reported 66 deaths, making the city one of the areas with the highest number of fatalities from the earthquake.
Entire residential sections of Pereira were reduced to piles of concrete, broken masonry and twisted steel. Buildings that had once stood alongside one another were left as heavily damaged shells or completely collapsed structures, complicating the work of rescuers moving through the affected neighborhoods.
Video recorded during the earthquake and posted on social media showed the scale of the shaking at Pereira’s airport. The footage showed the airport building violently swaying as people sought shelter, while large sections of the ceiling fell to the ground.
The rural province of Choco, which is closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, also reported fatalities. Authorities said 13 people had died there, with difficult terrain and damaged infrastructure presenting additional challenges for emergency crews trying to reach affected communities.
The earthquake has revived memories of another devastating disaster that struck the same coffee-growing region in 1999. That earthquake killed more than 1,000 people and caused widespread destruction across the area.
The latest disaster comes only days after President Abelardo De La Espriella took office, placing the new administration under immediate pressure to coordinate one of the country’s largest emergency responses in years.
De La Espriella said 35 people had died in Cali and that 188 people were missing. He announced that 1,000 members of the security forces would be sent to the city by dawn after authorities received reports of looting.
Both Cali and Pereira introduced nighttime curfews on Monday as officials sought to maintain order while rescue operations continued. The presence of additional security forces is expected to help protect damaged neighborhoods and allow emergency workers to concentrate on searches and relief operations.
“Our intention is to cooperate in any way necessary. Here, there are no distinctions or ideological divisions when it comes to defending our people or showing solidarity,” De La Espriella told journalists on Monday evening.
The president’s comments reflected the scale of the challenge facing the country as rescue teams work against time to locate people who may still be alive beneath collapsed structures. The number of missing people, particularly in Cali, has raised fears that the confirmed death toll could climb as rescuers gain access to areas that remain difficult to reach.
Authorities and emergency workers are also facing the problem of buildings that survived the initial shaking but may now be unsafe. Residents have been forced to remain outdoors in some areas because of fears that weakened structures could collapse during aftershocks or further rescue operations.
The disaster has also drawn comparisons with other major earthquakes in the region. Colombia’s 1999 earthquake remains one of the country’s most traumatic recent disasters, while catastrophic earthquakes in neighboring Venezuela in June killed more than 6,300 people.
For families waiting outside collapsed buildings, however, the immediate priority is finding loved ones. Rescue workers continued searching through concrete and twisted metal on Tuesday, while volunteers provided assistance wherever professional teams could not reach quickly enough.
With hundreds still feared missing and emergency operations continuing across several affected provinces, authorities are preparing for the possibility that the final toll will be considerably higher than the number currently confirmed. The focus remains on locating survivors, treating the injured and securing damaged areas as Colombia begins the difficult task of assessing the full scale of the earthquake’s destruction.