Colombia scrambles to find survivors as quake kills at least 164

BOGOTA – Rescue efforts across western Colombia carried into ​a second day on Tuesday (11) as emergency workers dug through collapsed buildings and flattened homes, amid expectations ‌that the death toll from the country’s most powerful earthquake in decades could rise.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake tore through Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland early on Monday (10), killing at least 164 people.

The quake reduced multi-storey buildings to rubble in cities such as Pereira and Cali, and cracked apart one of the towers of ​a historic cathedral in the city of Manizales.

Emergency teams aided by police, soldiers and volunteers worked through the ​night with excavators and, at times, their bare hands, hunting for survivors beneath debris.

In Cali, home ⁠to about 2.2 million people, at least 85 people were killed. Dozens of buildings were left leaning precariously or destroyed outright, ​forcing residents into the streets.

Several of the top floors of one of the city’s hospitals – some dedicated to paediatric care – collapsed ​upon themselves, leaving some patients trapped and forcing some 600 others to be tended to on a street strewn with rubble, hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television.

Carmen Yasmin Garcia, 43, a Cali resident volunteering with rescue teams, said on Monday afternoon that her group had freed ​seven people from a collapsed building, but four others and a dog remained trapped.

“A moment ago there was scratching, but ​now we can’t hear anything; we still have faith that the dog is alive and we can get these people out,” Garcia said. “We ‌need people ⁠with sticks and spades; the more people lending a hand, the better.”

In Pereira, capital of the hard-hit state of Risaralda, authorities reported 66 dead.

The city also bore some of the most visible destruction, with entire residential blocks reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel. Video posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed the city’s airport violently swaying during the quake, with ​large chunks of the ceiling ​collapsing as people sheltered.

Another ⁠13 people died in Choco, the rural province closest to the quake’s epicentre.

Security Forces Headed to Cali

President Abelardo De La Espriella, who assumed power just days ago, said 35 people died ​in Cali alone, while 188 were missing. He said 1,000 members of the security forces ​would be deployed ⁠to the city by dawn, following reports of looting. Cali, as well as Pereira, implemented curfews on Monday night.

“Our intention is to cooperate in any way necessary. Here, there are no distinctions or ideological divisions when it comes to defending our people or showing ⁠solidarity,” De ​La Espriella told journalists on Monday evening.

The disaster has drawn comparisons to ​a deadly 1999 earthquake that devastated the same coffee-growing region, killing more than 1,000 people, as well as to catastrophic quakes that killed more than 6,300 in ​neighbouring Venezuela in June.

At a depth of 110 kilometres, the quake was felt across Colombia, including the capital Bogota, where crowds of people rushed out into the street in their pyjamas. It was also felt in neighbouring Ecuador and Panama. 

Experts at the US Geological Survey said the quake was likely caused by movement along a deep fault within the Nazca tectonic plate.

All upcoming professional football matches have been postponed.

Messages of support came in from countries across the region and the world.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was “closely monitoring” the situation and “stands ready to support the people of Colombia.”

The US later announced $15.5 million in emergency relief.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had mobilised Copernicus, a satellite service, to help with rescue operations.

Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.

–Reuters/AFP