Colombia Quake Toll Passes 281 as Recovery Begins
The death toll from Colombia’s strongest earthquake in a century has passed 281, with around 400 people still missing and more than 12,000 homes destroyed, according to authorities. With the survival window long past, the operation has shifted to recovery. Officials have warned of a “yearslong road” to rebuild the shattered region.
The magnitude-7.4 quake, which struck near San José del Palmar on Monday and devastated the city of Cali, is the deadliest disaster to hit Colombia in decades, and the toll has climbed steadily as crews reached communities cut off by landslides. With hope of finding survivors gone, attention turns to the hundreds still unaccounted for and to the immense task of rehousing tens of thousands left homeless. The scale of destruction in an impoverished, mountainous region points to a recovery measured in years rather than months, and to a heavy bill for a government only weeks old. International aid continues to arrive. Watch for the final casualty count and how the reconstruction is funded and managed.