About this Summary
This summary was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to help readers quickly understand the key points of the article.
It has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication. For complete information and full details, please read the full article.
- Firefighter Santiago Sánchez said the rescue operation lasted around 16 hours and required reaching seven or eight metres through debris.
- Officials believe another 24 people remain trapped in the collapsed building, with at least two known to be alive.
- The 7.4-magnitude quake struck Monday near San José del Palmar, killing at least 254 people and leaving around 4,000 unaccounted for.
- Colombia received international aid offers, including $15.5 million from the US and satellite support from the European Union.
Rescuers in Cali pulled a 31-year-old woman alive from the rubble on Tuesday, nearly 30 hours after a devastating earthquake struck Colombia’s west.
The woman had been living on the second floor of a five-storey building when it collapsed. Firefighter Santiago Sánchez told Colombian media outlet Caracol that the highly complex rescue operation lasted around 16 hours.
Rescuers had to reach seven or eight metres vertically through the mountain of debris to reach the woman.
Her condition was described as “good, given the circumstances”.
Sánchez said another 24 people are believed to be trapped inside the building, with at least two known to be alive. Search and rescue operations were continuing.
Elsewhere, rescue teams continued searching through piles of rubble, sometimes asking crowds to remain silent so they could listen for survivors attempting to communicate.
Death toll reaches 254
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck at 07:34 local time on Monday, near San José del Palmar in the western department of Chocó, on Colombia’s Pacific coast.
The quake struck at a depth of 103 kilometres and was the strongest recorded in Colombia in at least a decade.
According to Reuters calculations based on figures released by affected municipalities, at least 254 people have died. Of those, 101 were in Pereira and 95 in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, which has a population of around 2.2 million.
Unofficial estimates based on an online platform where people report missing relatives suggest that around 4,000 people remain unaccounted for.
Experts generally consider the first 72 hours after a major earthquake to be critical for locating and rescuing survivors. After this period, the chances of survival fall dramatically.
Professional rescuers, volunteers, military personnel, specially trained dogs and heavy machinery have been working continuously through the rubble, while residents have been distributing food and water to victims and rescue workers.
Night-time curfews have also been introduced in some cities to prevent looting.
Communities search through the rubble
From above, parts of Cali resemble a scene of widespread destruction, with piles of rubble where homes and other buildings once stood.
Cars have been left scattered across streets, some crushed under walls and concrete.
Residents have joined rescue efforts using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands, forming human chains to remove debris.
“We are working together in the hope of saving at least one life,” Javier Muñoz said.
Hospitals in Cali were also damaged. Part of the university hospital collapsed, forcing doctors to move patients, with some receiving treatment in nearby gardens.
In Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdó, some of the worst-hit cities, a municipal association reported at least 1,600 people injured and 240 buildings destroyed.
‘We lost everything’
In Pereira, most of the city’s 480,000 residents were without electricity, while only a small number had access to the internet.
Many spent the night outdoors, frightened by continuing aftershocks, with more than 100 recorded.
Tents and mattresses were set up in a park for earthquake victims, with some put there by residents themselves.
“We lost everything, but we are alive,” said 23-year-old Joan Tabasco, who camped in the park with his partner and their seven-month-old son.
For many families, the search for relatives has turned into mourning.
“My aunt lived here. She is under the rubble,” Jorge González said at the remains of a collapsed building. He said a gas leak had prevented rescuers from recovering her and that he had no intention of leaving until her body was found.
Others were left counting their material losses.
“We lost everything,” Stella Galvis said after escaping the building where she lived with her husband and child.
International aid announced
Colombia’s new President, Abelardo de la Espriella, whose government is preparing major public spending cuts, nevertheless promised financial assistance to help thousands of homeless earthquake victims find new homes.
He pledged during a visit to Pereira, which was also struck by a devastating earthquake in 1999 that killed almost 1,200 people.
The earthquake in Colombia prompted international reactions and offers of assistance.
The US Government, an ally of the country’s new right-wing president, announced $15.5 million in aid.
The European Union said it was activating satellites from its Copernicus programme to support rescue operations.
Pope Leo XIV said he was “shocked”, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his solidarity with the people and Government of Colombia.
Quake felt across the region
The powerful earthquake was felt as far as Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.
Venezuela is still dealing with the aftermath of two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on June 24. The provisional death toll from those quakes has exceeded 6,300.
The countries are located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity caused by movements of tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface.
Source: CNA
Also read: Colombia: Six-month-old baby rescued alive from earthquake rubble
For more videos and updates, check out our YouTube channel
