Colombia earthquake death toll passes 160 as rescuers dig through rubble

Rescue workers, soldiers, and civilians dug through collapsed buildings across western Colombia on Tuesday, searching for survivors after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake tore through the country's coffee-growing heartland on Monday morning, killing at least 164 people and leaving hundreds trapped beneath rubble.

The quake, which struck at 7:34 a.m. local time near San José del Palmar in the Chocó department, was the strongest to hit Colombia in a decade, according to the Colombian Geological Survey. It was felt across neighboring Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama.bbc+1

Devastation Across Multiple Cities

Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, bore some of the heaviest losses, with at least 85 people killed and dozens of buildings destroyed or left leaning precariously, according to Reuters. Several floors of a city hospital — including pediatric wards — collapsed, trapping patients and forcing some 600 others to be treated on a rubble-strewn street, hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television.reuters

In Pereira, capital of the hard-hit Risaralda department in the coffee-growing region, authorities reported 66 dead, with entire residential blocks reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel. At least 13 people died in Chocó, the rural province closest to the epicenter. Deaths were also reported in Manizales, Quibdó, and Medellín.bbc+1

President Abelardo De La Espriella, who took office just three days before the earthquake, declared a national disaster and said 188 people were missing in Cali alone. He ordered 1,000 security personnel deployed to the city by dawn Tuesday following reports of looting, and curfews were imposed in both Cali and Pereira.abcnews+1

A New President's First Crisis

De La Espriella, a former criminal defense lawyer with no prior political experience who was inaugurated on August 7, cancelled his travel plans and flew to Bogotá to lead the emergency response. "To the Colombians who are going through difficult times today, I want to say: You are not alone," he said in a social media video.spectator+1

The U.S. State Department committed $15.5 million in emergency aid for shelter, food, and earthquake assessments, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the deployment of the EU's Copernicus satellite to assist rescue efforts. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele offered personnel and equipment.abcnews+1

Structural Vulnerabilities and Regional Context

Research helps explain the scale of destruction. Ryan Hoult, an earthquake engineer at the University of Newcastle, noted that many Colombian buildings use thin concrete walls — typically 7 to 10 centimeters thick — with only a single layer of brittle electrowelded wire mesh reinforcement. A 2018 survey of buildings in Cali found 90% had walls with a single layer of reinforcement.theconversation

The disaster drew comparisons to a deadly 1999 earthquake that devastated the same coffee-growing region, killing more than 1,000 people, and to catastrophic quakes that killed over 6,300 in neighboring Venezuela in June. Seven airports suspended operations, and roads were severely blocked in affected areas.reuters+2

"A moment ago there was scratching but now we can't hear anything, we still have faith," said Carmen Yasmin Garcia, a 43-year-old Cali volunteer, describing efforts to reach people trapped in a collapsed building on Monday afternoon.reuters