7.4 Earthquake Kills More Than 250 in Colombia as Rescuers Search Cali and Chocó Rubble

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland early on Monday, killing more than 250 people according to estimates from local authorities as rescue crews dug through shattered concrete in western Colombia on Tuesday.

“leaving apartment blocks, homes, schools and health centers cracked, leaning or flattened”

Reuters

Reuters said the quake tore through apartment blocks, homes, schools and health centers, and that nearly 100 aftershocks were registered as of Tuesday morning.

Al Jazeera

In Cali, the Reuters report said the death toll stood at 95 and that 949 injured were recorded, while the New York Times said the death toll had risen to at least 181 people by Tuesday morning according to Asocapitales.

The New York Times also reported that at least 1,310 people were injured and 153 buildings have collapsed by Tuesday morning, while Reuters described hospital damage in Cali where 600 others were tended to on a street strewn with rubble, after top floors of a pediatric-care hospital collapsed.

In the Chocó region, the New York Times quoted governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi saying, "What we don’t have is a complete tally of the physical damage," as communications were still down in eight municipalities.

Rescue efforts continued into Tuesday as the New York Times described a late-night hunt for survivors with firefighters and other emergency workers using pickaxes and other tools to hack through rubble in affected cities.

The Guardian reported that Colombian rescue workers were racing to find survivors after the earthquake killed at least 240 people and left at least 3,000 missing, and it quoted a fire department post on X saying, "Every minute counts," alongside a video of a survivor being rescued.

Buenos Aires Herald

In Cali, the Guardian said firefighters pulled a 35-year-old man from the wreckage shortly before 4am on Tuesday, nearly 24 hours after the 7.4 magnitude quake rattled western Colombia.

Reuters reported that in the worst-hit cities, rescuers worked through the night with cranes, excavators and, at times, their bare hands, cutting through twisted steel and passing buckets of debris in searches for those still trapped.

Reuters also said newly inaugurated President Abelardo De La Espriella decreed a three-month economic relief measure for people in the coffee-growing region of Risaralda, speaking from its capital Pereira, and he said, "It broke my heart going through the city center and seeing all these businesses destroyed."

As the death toll and missing figures continued to shift across reports, the Washington Post said local authorities reported at least 220 deaths and hundreds more people injured, with both numbers expected to rise, while the Guardian said at least 3,000 were missing.

“Local authorities reported at least 220 deaths and hundreds more people injured”

The Washington Post

Reuters reported that the U.S. allocated $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food, protection and damage assessments, and it said the Inter-American Development Bank made $50 million immediately available for reconstruction support if requested.

The New York Times said the U.S. State Department committed $15.5 million in aid for emergency shelter, food, protection and earthquake assessments, and it quoted the department saying, "We are united in prayer with the Colombian people and stand ready to support President @ABDELAESPRIELLA."

In Cali and the surrounding department of Valle del Cauca, the Guardian reported that De la Espriella told reporters that 5,000 homes had been destroyed and 188 people were missing, while Reuters said OCHA estimated 5,000 homes were damaged and that dozens of buildings collapsed and hundreds of residences were destroyed.

Reuters also described the continuing seismic threat, saying nearly 100 aftershocks were registered as of Tuesday morning, and it noted that civil aviation authorities closed six airports—Quibdo, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura—due to damage, complicating rescue and aid delivery.