Colombia Earthquake Kills At Least 181, Injures 1,595, Rescue Efforts Continue In Chocó

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia early Monday, with the epicenter in San José del Palmar in the Chocó department, and Colombia’s president Abelardo de la Espriella said at least 181 people died and 1,595 were injured.

“At least 181 people died and 1,595 were injured in the earthquake”

CBS News

Rescue workers and volunteers rushed to clear rubble as the search continued, with de la Espriella also reporting 195 people missing and saying over 1,100 homes were destroyed and over 8,300 damaged.

Al Jazeera

In Pereira, residents faced near-total darkness as electricity was all but gone, and volunteers combed through collapsed buildings while families waited for information about loved ones.

In Cali, volunteers and rescuers formed human chains to remove bricks and masonry, and Andres Felipe Mejia said a rescuer asked anyone trapped to whistle and someone whistled back.

The Vatican said Pope Leo XIV was “deeply saddened” by the earthquake, while the U.S. announced $15.5 million in emergency relief and said it was closely monitoring the response.

As Colombia’s death toll estimates diverged, the CBC reported that local estimates on Tuesday put the toll around 254, while the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA said 126 people were confirmed dead and 1,495 injured as of Monday night.

In Cali, the CBC reported that several top floors of a hospital dedicated to pediatric care collapsed, leaving some patients trapped and 600 others tended to on a street strewn with rubble, and it quoted hospital director Irne Torres Castro.

AP News

Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara told Blu Radio, “We are … focused on the immediate task of saving lives, guaranteeing the arrival of rescue teams, bringing in medical supplies and field hospitals,” as rescuers worked through the night.

In Pereira, the News Pakistan reported that the death toll rose to 254 on Tuesday, with 101 killed in Pereira and 95 in Cali, and it said communications outages in Chocó complicated rescue efforts.

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

With communications still patchy in some of the worst-hit areas, officials said the full extent of damage and the final death toll could take days to establish, as the earthquake’s impact continued to unfold.

“We have no electricity. We really feel like we’re in a zombie city.”

Radio-Canada

In Cali, the Washington Post described the search for survivors after a six-story wing collapsed at Del Valle University Hospital, and it said five people, including a child, were rescued alive from the rubble while there was no sign of Héctor Jaramillo as of Tuesday evening.

In Colombia’s coffee region and beyond, the Radio-Canada report said the toll had reached 240 deaths and more than 1,300 injuries, and it quoted Gloria Giraldo saying, “We have no electricity. We really feel like we’re in a zombie city.”

In the Chocó region near the epicenter, Radio-Canada said access was difficult because roads were in poor condition, and it cited the International Red Cross while also reporting that the governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba said at least 14 people had died there.

As the crisis moved into its next phase, the U.S. sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to support “the government’s critical operations, programming, and overall response coordination,” while Colombia’s president Abelardo de la Espriella toured affected cities and announced subsidies to allow people to rehouse themselves.