Colombia earthquake kills 132 as rescue teams race to find survivors

At least 132 people have been killed and 570 injured after a powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, collapsing buildings, trapping people beneath rubble and triggering a major national emergency. Officials warned the death toll is likely to rise as rescue teams continue searching devastated areas, with 86 buildings reported collapsed and seven airports suspending operations. The Colombian government has declared a national disaster and deployed hundreds of soldiers to help emergency crews reach victims.

Hospitals and cities badly hit

Some of the worst destruction has been reported in Pereira and Cali, with at least 60 deaths recorded in Pereira and 85 in Cali according to local officials. Around 40 buildings have collapsed in Cali, while sections of a hospital, including its pediatric and neonatal departments, were among the structures brought down, leaving patients trapped beneath the rubble. In Pereira, 16 people were rescued after being trapped for six hours in an aerial cable-car system. Authorities have imposed an overnight curfew in Cali as rescue operations continue, while hundreds of additional troops are being deployed.

The epicentre was near San José del Palmar in a mountainous and relatively underdeveloped part of western Colombia, roughly 150 miles west of Bogotá, but the earthquake was felt across the country, including the capital where alarms sounded and residents rushed into the streets. The disaster has struck Colombia’s famous Coffee Axis, a lush Andean region centred around cities including Pereira, Armenia and Manizales that is vital to the country's coffee industry and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists. The region was devastated by another major earthquake in 1999, when a magnitude 6.1 tremor killed 1,185 people, injured more than 8,500 and destroyed almost 36,000 homes.

International aid arrives

The United States has committed $15.5 million in emergency assistance for shelter, food, protection and earthquake assessments, while the US Embassy in Bogotá says it is helping American citizens affected by the disaster. With hundreds still missing in Cali and rescue workers continuing to dig through collapsed buildings, authorities are warning that the scale of the catastrophe may not yet be fully known.

SOURCE