Western Colombia was hit by a seismic event of magnitude 7.4, which proved to be the strongest earthquake recorded in that South American country in the 21st century. The intensity of the earthquake resulted in catastrophic consequences for infrastructure and human lives, with more than 110 fatalities confirmed.
The hardest hit was the city of Cali, where more than twenty buildings collapsed. At least 1,500 buildings were damaged across the affected area, with dozens of buildings completely destroyed. Many people in Cali are trapped under the rubble, creating an urgent need for organised rescue operations.
The mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, has requested urgent assistance from higher authorities, calling for the Bogotá and Medellín administrations to send disaster response teams. These specialist teams, along with civilians, are intensively searching the rubble in the hope of finding survivors and rescuing those trapped under concrete and steel.
The earthquake also prompted mass evacuations in the affected zones to prevent further casualties from potential aftershocks or further collapse of unstable structures. The situation remains unstable, and rescue efforts are hampered by the scale of the damage and the number of people left homeless.
