Race Against Time: Colombia Rescue Efforts Intensify as Earthquake Death Toll Climbs Past 160

BOGOTA — Emergency responders, soldiers, and civilian volunteers dug through shattered concrete and twisted steel across western Colombia on Tuesday, racing to reach survivors trapped following a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake.  

Authorities warn that the death toll, which has climbed to at least 164, is expected to rise further as heavy machinery and rescue teams penetrate remote areas cut off by landslides and infrastructure collapse.  

​

Monday’s tremor—the country's most powerful earthquake in decades—tore through Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland, reducing multi-story residential buildings, hospitals, and historic structures to rubble. The epicenter was traced near San José del Palmar in the western department of Chocó, with violent shaking felt as far away as Bogotá, Ecuador, and Panama.  

​

Epicenter of Destruction

​

The hardest-hit urban centers bore catastrophic damage. In Cali, home to approximately 2.2 million people, at least 85 people were confirmed dead. Sections of a major local hospital—including pediatric care units—collapsed inward, forcing medical staff to treat roughly 600 patients on streets strewn with debris.  

​

In Pereira, capital of the Risaralda department, officials reported 66 fatalities, with entire city blocks flattened. Historic landmarks also suffered; structural fractures tore through one of the main towers of the cathedral in Manizales.  

​

“We need people with sticks and spades; the more people lending a hand, the better,” said Carmen Yasmin Garcia, 43, a local resident volunteering at a collapsed site in Cali, where search teams spent hours utilizing heavy equipment and bare hands to pull survivors from the debris.

  

​

International Response and National Emergency

​

The national government has mobilized emergency declarations to fast-track resource allocation, deploying military units to aid municipal response teams.

​

Global leaders have begun extending offers of financial assistance, medical personnel, and specialized urban search-and-rescue teams to support the ongoing disaster relief operation.  

​

Civil aviation authorities reported that while several regional airports experienced temporary closures or disruptions due to infrastructure checks, key maritime corridors and major logistical hubs remained largely operational.  

​

As night falls on the second day of crisis operations, rescue workers continue using search dogs, thermal imaging, and acoustic detectors, desperately clinging to hopes of finding more survivors in the ruins.