Rescue operations across western Colombia entered a second day on Tuesday as emergency workers searched through collapsed buildings and flattened homes for survivors following the country’s strongest earthquake in decades.
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland early Monday, killing at least 164 people, with authorities warning that the death toll could rise as rescue teams reach more affected areas.
The powerful quake brought multi-storey buildings crashing down in cities including Cali and Pereira and damaged a tower of a historic cathedral in Manizales.
Emergency workers, backed by police, soldiers and volunteers, worked through the night using excavators and their bare hands to search for people trapped beneath the rubble.
Cali, a city of about 2.2 million people, recorded at least 85 deaths. Dozens of buildings were destroyed or left dangerously unstable, forcing residents to spend the night outdoors.
Parts of a hospital in the city, including several upper floors housing paediatric units, collapsed during the earthquake. Some patients were trapped, while about 600 others were treated on a street surrounded by debris, hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television.
Rescue efforts were also intensified in Pereira, the capital of hard-hit Risaralda state, where authorities reported 66 deaths.
Entire residential blocks in Pereira were reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel, highlighting the scale of the destruction.
Footage verified by Reuters showed the city’s airport shaking violently during the earthquake, with large sections of its ceiling collapsing as people sought shelter.
In Cali, volunteers joined professional rescue teams in the search for survivors. Carmen Yasmin Garcia, 43, said her group had rescued seven people from a collapsed building on Monday but that four others and a dog remained trapped.
Garcia said rescuers had heard scratching from beneath the rubble but later lost the sound, adding that they remained hopeful the trapped people and the dog were still alive.
She urged more residents to join the rescue operation, saying additional people, sticks and shovels were urgently needed.
Authorities and emergency agencies continued to assess the extent of the damage across western Colombia as rescue operations pressed on, with hopes of finding more survivors despite the rising death toll.
Boluwatife Enome
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