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Rescuers dig through rubble as Colombia earthquake death toll rises to at least 224
Colombia earthquake kills at least 132, injures 570 as president declares national emergency
Powerful earthquake kills at least 20 in western Colombia, collapses buildings in multiple cities
Rescuers and volunteers in western Colombia dug through rubble with their bare hands Tuesday as the death toll from the country’s strongest earthquake in a decade climbed to at least 224, with thousands still missing.
The 7.4-magnitude quake struck near San José del Palmar in the Chocó region at 7:34 a.m. local time Monday, collapsing buildings in cities including Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdó. The mayors of major affected cities reported at least 181 deaths and more than 1,300 injuries by early Tuesday, with 165 buildings collapsed. Later updates from local authorities and the Association of Colombian Capitals placed the toll at 224 dead, with approximately 1,600 buildings damaged or destroyed .
President Abelardo de la Espriella, sworn in just three days earlier, declared a state of emergency and mobilized military and police resources, including engineers, rescue teams and search dogs. He traveled to Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, on Monday night, vowing to deploy “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond to the disaster .
In Pereira, one of the hardest-hit cities, power outages left much of the area in darkness Monday night as volunteers searched for survivors beneath collapsed structures. “We’re without power. This seems honestly like a zombie city,” resident Juan David Gaitan told AFP. Juana Marin, another volunteer, described the scene as devastating, adding, “It’s so sad to see the whole city like this, knowing that there may still be people alive under there” .
The quake crumpled a tower of Manizales’ neo-Gothic cathedral and left streets littered with debris, furniture and twisted metal. In Cali, Mayor Alejandro Eder reported 40 buildings had collapsed completely, with 37 people rescued so far. The city imposed a curfew starting at 8 p.m. Monday to “safeguard security” .
International aid began to materialize as the European Union released an initial €100,000 in emergency funds to support rescue operations, collaborating with the German Red Cross. The Red Cross Federation activated its emergency response, prioritizing the search for survivors still trapped under rubble .
Authorities warned the death toll could rise further, with estimates of up to 3,000 people missing, many in the remote and impoverished Chocó region, where access is limited to boats or planes through dense jungle . Six airports in the affected areas were shut down, and the earthquake was also felt in neighboring Panama and Ecuador .
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