Rescuers search for the missing after a strong quake kills more than 180 in Colombia

Since the main 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck on Monday, 103 smaller aftershocks have been recorded, the Colombian Geological Service reported.

Choco Gov. Nubia Córdoba said on X that her department — the earthquake’s epicenter — remains on “maximum response alert” due to ongoing seismic activity.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced on X the dispatch of two cargo planes carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Colombia. The first is set to depart on Tuesday night, and the second on Wednesday.

Bukele explained that the Colombian government requested only supplies to assist those affected, not additional rescue teams.

“Our prayers are with the victims’ families, the injured, and the entire Colombian people,” Bukele stated.

The World Food Program has about 4,500 metric tons of food pre-positioned close enough to affected areas for a rapid response, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

Initial assessments indicate 12 departments were affected, with thousands of homes damaged and hundreds destroyed. Health and education facilities, roads and airports also were damaged, the U.N. humanitarian office said.

María José Torres Macho, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia, said U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher met Tuesday with Foreign Minister Omar Bula, who indicated the earthquake’s impact was greater than authorities had expected.

The main needs are shelter, health care, food security and protection, Torres Macho said, adding that humanitarian partners already are responding.

She said a U.N. remote-sensing system recently used after Venezuela’s earthquakes is assessing structural and economic damage in Colombia. The U.N.'s existing presence in affected areas and its continued coordination with Colombian authorities have helped speed the response, she said.

Several U.S.-based aid groups, including World Central Kitchen, All Hands and Hearts and Global Empowerment Mission, are mobilizing in Colombia, providing meals, search-and-rescue supplies and relief items for displaced people.

For some, responding to Venezuela’s June 24 twin earthquakes helped prepare them to act swiftly in neighboring Colombia.

“That experience helps us move quickly, anticipate needs and understand how to adapt as the situation evolves,” said Juan Camilo Jiménez, response director for World Central Kitchen, which has distributed 1.5 million meals in Venezuela.

But Venezuela’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, along with recent wildfires, typhoons, floods and crises elsewhere, is stretching other relief groups.

“We have requests to respond, but physically no capacity without jeopardizing other active programs,” said Will Heegaard, CEO of Footprint Project, which deploys backup solar power and battery systems in disaster zones.

The earthquake presents the first major test for first-time officeholder Abelardo de la Espriella, who entered office just days before the natural disaster. The leader, who split the country in recent elections, now seeks to unite Colombia in its disaster response.

That challenge was particularly notable in Choco, the region surrounding the quake’s epicenter and one of Colombia’s poorest and most neglected regions. Much of Choco is accessible only by boat, through the jungle or by airplane.

Sterling Palacios, a religious and environmental leader in rural parts of the region, said Choco’s capital was devastated along with smaller communities dotting the Atrato River, the region’s most important throughway.

Homes there have been reduced to rubble and aftershocks continued to rumble, terrifying residents who slept in the streets overnight.

Sterling Palacios is a religious and environmental leader in the Choco region that surrounds the quake’s epicenter. He said Choco’s capital and smaller communities dotting its most important throughway, the Atrato River, were devastated.

“There are towns where people have lost everything,” Palacios said. “We don’t have a full panorama of the damage, but we know it’s been massive.”

He it could take a couple of weeks to know the full scope of devastation. Some rural towns are only reachable by boat even days away, and warring armed groups can pose a threat.

A citizen-run website is filling with the names and faces of loved ones who have not been found.

One photo shows a baby girl lying on what appears to be a sheet with balloons nearby. She is just a year old and missing in Cali, the post says.

Colombia’s president, meanwhile, says the government has registered at least 195 missing people.

Colombia’s president says the death toll is now 181, with 2,595 people hurt.

President Abelardo de la Espriella was speaking in one of the hardest hit cities, Pereira.

“A tragedy like this leaves Colombia mourning,” de la Espriella said, “but that will not be an obstacle” to recovery.

Death tolls in major earthquakes can take weeks to develop. Monday’s magnitude 7.4 quake struck major cities but also rural communities deep in the mountains and jungle, many only reachable by boat. Logistical hurdles that have long marked daily life in Colombia can complicate search efforts.

It is too soon to say what the toll might be, with over 3,000 people said to be missing. The federal government Monday said at least 111 had died. But mayors and governors from Cali, Pereira, Choco and Manizalez have said at least 179 died in those four areas.

The Red Cross in Colombia tells the AP it has already received more than five tons of donations for quake survivors.

In Bogotá, 62-year-old Luz Nelly Cuervo was donating a box of 100 hygiene kits including toothbrushes and toothpaste.

“As Colombians, obviously this is heartbreaking,” she said.

Forensic authorities in Colombia have identified the first 22 victims of the earthquake from some of the hardest-hit areas: Manizales, Buenaventura and Pereira.

A statement says the handover of the bodies to loved ones will be done in coordination with the prosecutor’s office.

A U.N. spokesperson says the world body is in close contact with Colombian authorities and is supporting the earthquake response “as requested.”

Mexico says it is preparing to send 255 experts in search and rescue as well as health workers, plus four tons of health supplies and several tons more of equipment including satellite phones and tents.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico was waiting for a formal request from Colombia.

Mónica Sánchez owns a small company that makes work uniforms. Her home city, Pereira, was one of the worst hit.

A wall inside the factory collapsed. Sánchez and her 12 workers made it outside just in time.

“It was shocking — the city fell down around us,” she said.

In Pereira, a survivor who gave his name as Jorge told the AP “we feel exhausted, tired.” Then he was interrupted. In the distance, a rescue worker in a hard hat stood on the gray remains of a collapsed building.

“The photo of the woman you showed us, she was on the third or fourth floor?” the worker called out.

“On the fourth,” Jorge said.

But there are no longer any floors.

Argentina says it has offered help. Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Colombia’s new leader by phone and offered condolences. Xi said he believed the Colombian people would overcome the disaster.

Jairo Vargas arrived from Medellin long before dawn and hopes to find his brother in the debris of his apartment building in Pereira, but he says he has little hope.

“I’m absolutely certain he’s here. Absolutely certain,” Vargas says. The doorman didn’t report his brother leaving. His car is still there. But no one answers his phone.

Vargas said it’s possible his brother is in a protected pocket of the ruins but “we can’t hear any noises anymore.”

Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has said there are 164 Spaniards whose “whereabouts are unknown.” So far, there are no reports of Spanish casualties.

Nearly 3,400 people still have not been found. Loved ones are posting their information on citizen-run websites.

“This has been a tragedy for the whole city, for thousands of families,” Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar told local media, his voice quavering. “But here we are, and we will continue forward with the hand of God.”

Mayors and governors from Cali, Pereira, Choco and Manizalez said Tuesday at least 179 people died in those four areas. The federal government last updated its estimates Monday and has said at least 111 died.

Quake-affected areas this morning smell like cooking fires and dust. Some people in these early hours of the response are working in the rubble with little more than work gloves and simple face masks for protection, buckets in hand. Some survivors appear overwhelmed.

The sun has risen in the past hour over Choco, the region surrounding the quake’s epicenter and one of Colombia’s poorest and most neglected areas. Already, responders are scrambling among the rubble.

Much of Choco is accessible only by boat, through the jungle or by airplane. De la Espriella visited its capital, Quibdo, on Monday night to assess the damage and said that “Choco will never again be the ‘land of the forgotten.”

Search and rescue efforts were underway early Tuesday in dozens of cities and towns in western Colombia after a powerful earthquake struck the region, killing at least 111 people and leaving many trapped under the debris of damaged and destroyed buildings.

Monday’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake rattled Cali, Quibdo, Pereira and numerous other cities and towns. Around 1,600 buildings were reported damaged or collapsed. Soldiers, rescue personnel and families picked through the rubble, removing and passing large pieces of concrete by hand down lines of volunteers.

President Abelardo de la Espriella said Monday afternoon at least 111 people had died.

Families posted information about missing loved ones on citizen-run websites. By Monday night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing.

De la Espriella traveled to Choco’s capital, Quibdo, on Monday night to assess the damage and announced he had mobilized “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond, deploying engineers, rescue workers and search dogs. He announced rental subsidies for those whose homes were damaged while they undergo repairs.

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