Colombia continues search and rescue operations after earthquake, over 160 killed
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake tore through Colombia's coffee-growing heartland early on Monday, killing at least 164 people.
Rescue teams across western Colombia have been tirelessly working around the clock since a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck early Monday. The death toll has risen to at least 164, making it the country's most devastating quake in decades. Cities like Pereira and Cali bore the brunt of the disaster, with multiple stories of buildings collapsing like cards in a tower game.
Cali, a bustling metropolis of approximately 2.2 million residents, saw at least 85 people perish. The city's hospital floors gave way, trapping patients and stranding 600 others on a rubble-strewn street. In Pereira, the capital of the hard-hit Risaralda state, authorities reported 66 deaths. The city's entire residential blocks lay in ruins, as witnessed by the violent swaying of its airport and the collapse of its historic cathedral.
The disaster has evoked memories of a 1999 quake that killed over 1,000 people in the same coffee-growing region, and of catastrophic tremors that claimed more than 6,300 lives in neighboring Venezuela earlier this year. In response to the calamity, Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella has deployed 1,000 security force members to Cali by dawn, following reports of looting. He also announced a curfew in the city and other affected areas, vowing to offer any necessary assistance to the affected communities.
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