Colombia's Deadliest Earthquake: 132 Lives Lost
At least 132 people are dead and more than 480 injured after Colombia was struck by its most powerful earthquake in years, with rescue teams still pulling survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Cali and surrounding regions, according to BBC News and The Guardian.
At least 132 people are dead and more than 480 injured after Colombia was struck by its most powerful earthquake in years, with rescue teams still pulling survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Cali and surrounding regions, according to BBC News and The Guardian.
The quake tore through populated urban areas, overwhelming local emergency services and leaving an unknown number of people trapped beneath debris. Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, sustained some of the worst structural damage, with residential buildings and infrastructure reduced to wreckage across multiple neighbourhoods. The Chocó and Pereira regions reported significant casualties as well, stretching the national response across a wide geographic corridor.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has declared a state of emergency in the affected zones, mobilising military units and civil protection teams to support search-and-rescue operations. International aid offers have begun arriving, with neighbouring governments and EU humanitarian agencies signalling readiness to deploy personnel and equipment.
The death toll, confirmed at 132 by BBC News, is expected to rise as rescue workers reach areas where access roads were severed by the quake. Field teams report that communication blackouts in rural zones are complicating casualty assessments.
Colombia sits on one of South America's most seismically active fault systems. The country has endured major earthquakes before — the 1999 Armenia quake killed more than 1,900 people — but this event represents the deadliest seismic event the country has faced in nearly three decades.
The rubble is still moving.
