Rescue teams dig through rubble as Colombia earthquake death toll rises to at least 254

Story Timeline
2 days · 4 summary articles
Rescue crews in western Colombia dug through rubble on Tuesday as the death toll from Monday’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake climbed to at least 254, with most casualties concentrated in the cities of Cali and Pereira. The quake, described as the most devastating in Colombia this century, struck the country’s coffee-growing region and left more than 2,500 injured, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs .
Authorities reported 195 people officially missing, though unofficial databases have received over 4,000 missing-person reports. In Cali, rescuers pulled a 31-year-old woman, Diana Troncoso, from the debris of a collapsed building after nearly 30 hours, sparking applause from onlookers. Firefighter Santiago Sánchez told Caracol TV the team worked for 16 hours to free her from the second floor of a five-story structure, descending “seven or eight meters” through rubble .
President Abelardo de la Espriella, inaugurated just days before the disaster, visited affected areas and pledged economic support to victims. “The missing are our top priority,” he said in Pereira . In Cali and Pereira, soldiers, firefighters, and volunteers used cranes, dogs, and heavy machinery to search for survivors, while families slept in parks as aftershocks rattled damaged neighborhoods.
The earthquake collapsed over 1,100 homes and buildings, leaving thousands homeless. In the Pacific region of Chocó, near the epicenter, remote communities remained without power or basic supplies. Beatriz Arcos, trapped with her husband and mother under their collapsed condominium, said it took rescuers about an hour to free them. She was hospitalized after a concrete block fell on her back .
Local officials in Cali later revised earlier death toll figures, and authorities acknowledged the count could rise as communication with some of the hardest-hit areas remained cut off . The quake overwhelmed parts of the health system, turning the rescue operation into one of Colombia’s largest disaster responses in years.
Follow us for live European news
- 3
- 2
- 2
- 1
- 1
- 1
- 1
- 1
- 1
- 1
- 1
7 further sources not geolocated










