Colombia quake death toll crosses 200 as rescue teams race against time to find survivors

Rescue teams in western Colombia continued digging through mountains of concrete and twisted metal on Tuesday as they searched for survivors following a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of the country’s coffee-growing region.

The earthquake, one of the strongest to hit Colombia in decades, struck early Monday, damaging or destroying homes, apartment buildings, schools and healthcare facilities across several cities.

As the scale of the disaster continued to emerge, local authorities estimated that more than 200 people had died, while the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA reported 126 confirmed deaths and 1,495 injuries based on official figures available on Monday night.

The discrepancy reflected the difficulty of assessing the full impact of the earthquake as emergency crews reached more affected areas and communications gradually resumed.

Rescuers worked through the night in the worst-hit areas, using cranes, excavators and heavy machinery to remove debris. In some locations, they relied on their hands as they searched collapsed buildings for people who may still be trapped beneath the rubble.

Families gathered near destroyed buildings, anxiously waiting for any sign that relatives or neighbours could be pulled out alive.

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

OCHA said nearly 5,000 homes had been damaged, while dozens of buildings collapsed and hundreds of residences were destroyed.

Hospitals damaged, residents forced onto streets

The earthquake caused extensive damage in Cali, where residents spent the night outdoors after parts of residential buildings collapsed.

Families cooked in the streets, collected belongings from damaged homes and waited for authorities to assess whether their properties were safe to enter.

A major hospital in the city also suffered severe damage, with several upper floors collapsing. Some of the affected floors housed paediatric units, leaving patients trapped inside and forcing medical teams to treat hundreds of others outside the facility.

Irne Torres Castro, the hospital’s director, told Caracol television that around 600 patients were treated on a street covered with rubble after the hospital was damaged.

In Pereira, another badly affected city, entire sections of residential neighbourhoods were reduced to piles of concrete, with exposed rooms and damaged buildings lining the streets.

Residents and volunteers formed human chains to remove debris, while others stood nearby in silence, listening for cries or tapping from people trapped underneath.

“They’ve already pulled several people out, some alive and some dead. I still can’t believe it — yesterday at this same time I said hello to them, and today they’re gone. It’s very painful,” Reuters quoted Fernanda Gaviria, 33, who was speaking from a grocery shop opposite a collapsed building.

Gaviria said she spent the night sleeping in a park after her apartment building was badly damaged.

Infrastructure badly hit

The earthquake also disrupted critical infrastructure across the affected region.

Civil aviation authorities temporarily closed six airports — Quibdo, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura — after they sustained damage. Dozens of roads were also reported to have been affected.

Power, water supplies, healthcare services and telecommunications remained disrupted in several areas, particularly in Choco near the earthquake’s epicentre.

The infrastructure damage has complicated the movement of rescue teams and the delivery of emergency supplies to isolated communities.

Authorities established emergency command centres as rescue workers, volunteers and humanitarian organisations mobilised to provide shelter, drinking water, food, hygiene kits and medical assistance.

International aid begins arriving

International assistance also began flowing into Colombia as the government assessed the scale of the destruction.

The US said it had allocated $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food, protection and damage assessments.

The Inter-American Development Bank said it had made $50 million immediately available for reconstruction assistance if requested by the Colombian government.

With communications still unreliable in some of the hardest-hit areas, authorities warned that it could take several days to establish the full extent of the destruction and determine the final death toll.

Rescue teams meanwhile continued their search through collapsed structures, with families remaining at the sites in the hope that survivors could still be found.

With inputs from agencies