Colombia earthquake: 265 dead, 496 missing as rescuers pull survivor from rubble after 36 hours

Earthquake and casualties

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday at approximately 7:34 local time, with its epicenter in the department of Choco. The Colombian Geological Service (SGC) classified it as the strongest earthquake in Colombia in the 21st century; Reuters, cited by oko.press, described it as the largest in the country in a century. By evening, 47 aftershocks had been recorded. As of Wednesday, President Abelardo De La Espriella reported 265 fatalities and 496 people still missing. An earlier count the same day had put the death toll at 254.

Rescue efforts and the 72-hour window

Search operations entered what local authorities called their "last stage." Cali mayor Alejandro Eder told journalists that the first 72 hours after a disaster are considered critical, as chances of finding survivors are greatest then. After that window, he acknowledged, the task facing rescuers would be "very difficult." In Choco, governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi announced on Wednesday that search and rescue operations in her department had been officially concluded.

We are no longer searching for anyone under the rubble

She added that efforts would now focus on aiding survivors. President De La Espriella, who was sworn in the previous Friday, visited affected regions and promised support for those who lost their homes.

Our efforts are focused on searching for the missing

The government declared three days of national mourning and an economic state of emergency.

Individual rescues

On Wednesday, 32-year-old Daniela Largo was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Pereira after spending 36 hours trapped underneath. The rescue took 10 hours; portal Infobae called it "another miracle." Her father, Julio Largo, told Caracol TV that she had been taken to hospital and was still fighting for her life, having suffered cardiac arrest and requiring resuscitation. Her mother, quoted by Euronews, said a 12-year-old son was waiting for her at home.

In Cali, residents formed human chains at the Torres del Limonar complex, where a five-story residential block collapsed. Brian Osorio Zuluaga, speaking to CNN, described hearing a faint whisper from the rubble. When he asked the crowd for silence, a voice responded: "Yes, I am here. I am with a child." Volunteers removed debris by hand and lifted a concrete slab to reach a baby, who appeared blue from lack of oxygen. The infant, a boy, was handed to Osorio and taken by police to an ambulance; a trapped man was subsequently freed.

In unity there is strength, because no single person would be able to move this rubble alone

Challenges on the ground

Many indigenous communities in the Pacific coastal region of Choco remained without electricity and basic services, complicating rescue efforts. Camilo Cano, a representative of the Bogota fire department, told Reuters that operations became more orderly once police restricted the number of volunteers, reducing noise and vibrations so sensors could better detect movement under the rubble. He noted that the risk of strong aftershocks posed a danger to assembled crowds near collapsed structures. In Cali, residents told Reuters the city morgue was full, hospitals had collapsed, and medicines and basic services were scarce. Airports in Armenia, Buenaventura, Cali, Quibdo, and Manizales reopened for commercial flights, while ports in Cartago and Pereira were reserved for emergency services. The United States pledged over 13 million euros in assistance, with the European Union adding a further 2 million. A Mexican rescue team arrived in Cali on Wednesday.