Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Hits 164 as President Deploys Security Forces

Rescue teams in western Colombia continued their search for survivors on Tuesday, marking the second day of operations following a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 164 people. The disaster has devastated the country’s coffee-growing heartland, causing significant structural damage in major urban centres including Pereira, Cali, and Manizales. Authorities have warned that the casualty count is expected to rise as emergency workers, supported by police and soldiers, continue to dig through collapsed buildings.

The earthquake, which struck early on Monday, reduced multi-storey buildings to rubble across the region. In Cali, a city of approximately 2.2 million people, at least 85 people were reported killed. The destruction was severe enough to leave dozens of buildings leaning precariously or destroyed outright, forcing residents into the streets. One of the city’s hospitals saw its top floors collapse, trapping patients and forcing some 600 others to be treated on a street strewn with rubble, according to hospital director Irne Torres Castro.

In Pereira, the capital of the Risaralda state, authorities reported 66 deaths. The city experienced some of the most visible destruction, with entire residential blocks reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel. Videos verified by Reuters showed the city’s airport swaying violently during the quake, with large chunks of the ceiling collapsing. Another 13 people died in the rural province of Choco, which is closest to the earthquake’s epicentre.

President Abelardo De La Espriella, who assumed power just days ago, addressed the nation on Monday evening, stating that 35 people had died in Cali alone and that 188 people were missing. He announced the deployment of 1,000 security force members to Cali to address reports of looting and maintain order. Curfews were implemented in both Cali and Pereira on Monday night to restrict movement and secure affected areas.

The disaster has drawn comparisons to a deadly 1999 earthquake in the same region that killed over 1,000 people, as well as to catastrophic quakes in neighbouring Venezuela in June that killed more than 6,300 people. As rescue efforts continue, volunteers and emergency workers are using excavators and their bare hands to hunt for survivors beneath the debris, with the final death toll likely to increase as operations progress.