Colombia quake death toll tops 250 as rescuers race to find survivors

Rescue crews dug through mountains of shattered concrete in western Colombia on Tuesday, racing to find survivors after a powerful earthquake killed more than 250 people, according to estimates from local authorities.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful to strike the South American country in decades, tore through Colombia's coffee-growing heartland early on Monday, leaving apartment blocks, homes, schools and health centres cracked, leaning or flattened.

In the hardest-hit cities, rescuers worked through the night with cranes, excavators and, at times, their bare hands, cutting through twisted steel and passing buckets of debris in desperate searches for those still trapped.

"We are … focused on the immediate task of saving lives, guaranteeing the arrival of rescue teams, bringing in medical supplies and field hospitals," Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara told Blu Radio.

The United Nations humanitarian office OCHA, citing official figures as of Monday night, said 126 people had been confirmed dead and 1,495 injured. But local estimates on Tuesday put the toll around 254, pointing to a disaster still unfolding as crews reached damaged neighbourhoods and communications slowly came back online.

7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Colombia, killing more than 100 and trapping people in collapsed buildings

Almost 5,000 homes were damaged, while dozens of buildings collapsed and hundreds of residences were destroyed, OCHA said.

In Cali, residents gathered in the streets after parts of homes and apartment blocks gave way. Families cooked outside, salvaged what they could and braced for another day away from home. Several of the top floors of one of the city's hospitals — some dedicated to pediatric care — collapsed, leaving some patients trapped and 600 others tended to on a street strewn with rubble, Irne Torres Castro, the hospital's director, told Caracol Television.

In Pereira, one of the cities hit hardest, whole sections of residential neighbourhoods were reduced to broken slabs of concrete and exposed rooms. Residents and volunteers formed human chains, while others stood silently nearby, listening for tapping sounds or cries from below.

"They've already pulled several people out, some alive and some dead. I still can't believe it — yesterday at this same time I said hello to them, and today, they're gone. It's very painful," said Fernanda Gaviria, 33, speaking from a grocery shop opposite a collapsed building.

Gaviria said she spent the night sleeping in a park after her own apartment building was badly damaged.

The earthquake also knocked out vital infrastructure. Civil aviation authorities closed six airports — Quibdo, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura — due to damage, while dozens of roads were reported to be affected.

Electricity, water, health care and phone service remained disrupted in several areas, especially in Choco near the epicentre, complicating rescue efforts and aid delivery.

Authorities activated command centres as emergency workers, volunteers and humanitarian agencies rushed in shelter supplies, drinking water, hygiene kits, food and medical support.