Colombia Quake Death Toll Hits 289; Recovery Efforts Begin

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, killing at least 289 people, injuring around 4,187, and leaving more than 3,000 missing. The quake devastated several cities including Cali, Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó in Chocó region, Risaralda, Caldas, Antioquia. As rescue efforts enter their final phase, the death toll is expected to rise further.

The disaster presents a significant test for newly inaugurated President Abelardo de la Espriella who declared a state of emergency and an economic emergency. De la Espriella traveled to Quibdó in Chocó on Monday night announcing he was mobilizing 'the entire military and police apparatus,' as well as deploying engineers, rescue workers, and search dogs. He pledged that 'Chocó will never again be the land of the forgotten.' The U.S. State Department has announced it would provide $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food, and other aid.

In Cali, home to about 2.2 million people, at least 85 people were killed, with dozens of buildings left leaning precariously or destroyed outright according to Reuters. The mayor of Pereira reported that 40 dead and entire residential blocks reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel as per Al Jazeera. Colombian Geological Service recorded 130 aftershocks as of Wednesday morning.

The earthquake has drawn comparisons to a deadly 1999 earthquake that devastated the same coffee-growing region, killing more than 1,000 people. The disaster also follows back-to-back quakes in neighboring Venezuela in late June which resulted in 6,300 deaths. According to Reuters, soil instability and shallowness of the tremors likely contributed to higher toll in Venezuela.

The search for survivors has entered a critical phase with rescue teams racing against time. In Pereira rescuers pulled Daniela Largo alive from the rubble late Tuesday after a complex 12-hour operation according to CBS News. Authorities have converted sports arenas, schools and other public buildings into shelters for thousands of displaced Colombians.

Rescuers in Colombia were making last-ditch efforts to locate earthquake survivors early Thursday as the critical 72-hour window for rescue operations neared its end per HuffPost. President De la Espriella said that nearly 120,000 families have been affected by this disaster.

'Our efforts are focused on the disappeared,' he told journalists in Bogotá, Colombia's capital according to CBS News. In cities such as Cali and Pereira emergency crews worked through a third night with their bare hands cranes and sniffer dogs stopping not to rest but to listen for signs of life.

As hopes of finding more survivors dimmed, the relief operation was expanding. In Bogotá, the capital, a stadium has been turned into the country's biggest donation collection center, with volunteers working around the clock to sort and load food, clothing, medicine and other basic supplies for affected areas according to Reuters.

President De La Espriella announced that Colombian billionaire banker Jaime Gilinski would donate 150 billion Colombian pesos ($47.75 million) to rebuild hospitals and schools in his hometown of Cali per Reuters.