Despair, hope in Colombia as rescue teams comb debris for earthquake survivors

A historic cathedral in Colombia, the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Manizales, suffered severe damage in a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit the country's western regions on Monday, 10 August. The quake, which struck at 7:34am local time at a depth of 103km, caused the collapse of one of the side towers and damaged over 1,600 buildings, killing more than 200 people.

Videos of the falling tower were widely shared online. The earthquake's epicentre was in San José del Palmar, a municipality in the department of Chocó, one of Colombia's poorest regions. The hardest hit cities were Manizales, Pereira, and Cali, capitals of neighbouring departments. Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national emergency in response to the disaster.

The cathedral, a Neo-Gothic style church built in 1939, was the most visited attraction in the city and the country's tallest church, standing at 119m. It took more than a decade to complete due to interruptions caused by the Great Depression in 1930 and resumed construction in 1935. The cathedral's 141 stained-glass windows were imported from France, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Other historic churches in Pereira and Cali also sustained damage. The disaster led to the declaration of curfews in Manizales, Pereira, and Cali, and the suspension of school activities. The Colombian Geological Survey stated this earthquake was the most powerful recorded in the country this century. In addition to historic monuments, the quake damaged government buildings and thousands of homes, leading to the suspension of commercial air traffic at airports in Manizales, Pereira, and other cities. The earthquake was felt as far away as neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador.