Search and rescue teams returned to devastated communities across western Colombia on Tuesday after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake killed at least 111 people by the federal government’s count, with regional officials reporting 179 deaths and thousands of people still missing.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Rescue crews, soldiers and volunteers resumed searching through collapsed buildings across western Colombia on Tuesday as authorities and families continued looking for thousands of people missing after Monday’s powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake.
An Associated Press report said social media groups created by residents searching for relatives indicated that about 2,700 people were believed missing by Monday evening, while broader estimates placed the number of missing above 3,000.
The federal government, which last updated its figures Monday, reported at least 111 deaths. Local officials in Cali, Pereira, Choco and Manizalez said the combined death toll in those four areas had reached at least 179.
Around 1,600 buildings were reported damaged or destroyed.
Across affected communities, rescue workers, military personnel and relatives searched piles of debris, at times forming human chains to pass large pieces of concrete away from collapsed structures.
Some of the greatest uncertainty surrounded Choco, the region containing the earthquake’s epicenter.
Choco is among Colombia’s poorest and most neglected regions and has long faced violence involving armed groups. Much of the area can be reached only by boat, airplane or by traveling through jungle terrain, complicating efforts to determine the full extent of the destruction.
President Abelardo De la Espriella traveled Monday night to Quibdo, Choco’s capital, where he said the government had mobilized “the entire military and police apparatus” for the emergency response.
Engineers, search-and-rescue personnel and search dogs were among the resources deployed.
“Choco will never again be the ‘land of the forgotten,’” de la Espriella said.
The disaster represents the first major crisis facing de la Espriella since he was sworn into office Friday.
The new president has been a divisive political figure because of his pledge to carry out an aggressive crackdown on criminal groups operating in the Andean nation.
With conventional communications disrupted in some areas, families have turned to citizen-run websites to post information about missing relatives.
Dana Carolina Zamora posted a photograph of her missing uncle, 60-year-old Miguel Ángel Zamora, holding his dog.
Zamora, a farmer, lived in a rural area of El Cairo near the earthquake’s epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar.
Local authorities said approximately 80% of El Cairo, a community of about 7,000 residents, had been damaged.
Zamora said her uncle lived in a traditional home constructed from sticks and mud and that his family remained hopeful that the lack of contact was the result of communications failures rather than injury.
“We are afraid. We hope that is not the case, that he is all right and that it is only a communication failure. But we haven’t heard anything from him,” she said.
Pereira was among the cities suffering extensive destruction.
Mónica Sánchez, who owns a small business that manufactures work uniforms, said a wall inside her factory collapsed during the earthquake. Sánchez and all 12 of her employees managed to escape before they were injured.
“It was shocking — the city fell down around us,” Sánchez said.
Pereira’s municipal government said at least 58 buildings collapsed.
In Cali, Mayor Alejandro Eder reported that at least 40 buildings had fallen.
Officials in both cities imposed curfews Monday night in an effort to deter looting.
Pereira also prohibited privately owned vehicles from circulating so streets could remain open for ambulances, police vehicles and search-and-rescue crews.
The earthquake came only weeks after two consecutive earthquakes devastated neighboring Venezuela in late June. Those earthquakes destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 6,300 people.
International assistance has begun arriving for Colombia.
The U.S. State Department announced $15.5 million in assistance for emergency shelter, food and other humanitarian needs, while governments elsewhere in Latin America also offered support.
Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar described the destruction as a citywide tragedy affecting thousands of families.
“This has been a tragedy for the whole city, for thousands of families,” Salazar told local media, his voice quavering. “But here we are, and we will continue forward with the hand of God.”
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