Rescue workers and volunteers rushed to clear rubble as they searched for survivors in Colombia Tuesday after the country was struck by its strongest earthquake on record.
At least 169 people died and more than 600 were injured in the earthquake, according to a tally released Tuesday by the Association of Mayors.
By Monday night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing. Many families posted information about loved ones online, hoping for information about their fate.
The 7.4-magnitude quake struck cities across Colombia’s western region shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time Monday, sending panicked residents onto the streets.
The city of Pereira, one of the hardest hit, was plunged into darkness Monday evening as volunteers combed through the remains of collapsed buildings searching for survivors.
“We’re without power. This seems honestly like a zombie city,” resident Juan David Gaitan told French news agency AFP.
At the airport in Pereira, videos showed pieces of ceiling falling down on travelers taking shelter and screaming, and people running through rubble in a panic.
The country’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who had been on the job for only three days, declared a state of emergency and vowed a concerted rescue effort.
Around 1,600 buildings across the country were reported damaged or collapsed, with rescue workers and volunteers seen clearing rubble by hand in some places. The mayors association said 165 structures collapsed.
Dana Carolina Zamora posted an image of her missing 60-year-old uncle, Miguel Ángel Zamora, cradling his dog. The farmer was living in a rural area of El Cairo, not far from the quake’s epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar.
“We are afraid. We hope that is not the case, that he is all right and that it is only a communication failure. But we haven’t heard anything from him,” Zamora said.
De la Espriella announced Monday night that he had mobilised “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond to the temblor.
