Colombia’s Earthquake Death Toll Passes 180 as Rescuers Race Against Time

Rescue workers in western Colombia pressed into a third day of searching through rubble Wednesday, racing against a narrowing window to find survivors after Monday’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake, the country’s strongest in a decade.
President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office just days before the quake struck, said Tuesday that the death toll had reached at least 181, with 2,595 people injured and roughly 195 officially listed as missing, though civilian run tracking databases put the number closer to 4,000. Other tallies compiled from regional authorities have put the toll higher still, reflecting the difficulty of confirming casualties across a wide, hard hit area.
The earthquake, centred near San Jose del Palmar in an underdeveloped part of western Colombia, caused the worst damage in Pereira and Cali, the country’s third largest city, where dozens of buildings collapsed, including sections of a hospital. The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA estimated roughly 5,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, with seven airports forced to suspend operations and disruptions to roads, water systems and telecommunications across the hardest hit region.
Aid groups say the disaster has compounded conditions in an area already grappling with poverty and decades of civil conflict related displacement. Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the earthquake has deepened an already severe humanitarian situation and called for expanded international support for the response.
De la Espriella declared a national disaster in the quake’s immediate aftermath and has since announced a three month economic relief measure for residents of the coffee growing Risaralda region, one of the hardest hit areas. The disaster represents an early and severe test for the new president, whose government was inaugurated only days before the ground began to shake.