After earthquake in Colombia: Quake devastates nursing home in Cali - all residents survive

A powerful earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, causing significant damage to the "Hermanitas de los Pobres" (Sisters of the Poor) nursing home in the city's south. The quake left windows shattered, walls cracked, and parts of ceilings collapsed, with debris filling residents' rooms and rendering some spaces unrecognizable. The stairwell also sustained severe damage.

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We have never experienced an earthquake like this.

Despite the devastation, all 65 residents of the home miraculously survived. They had gathered for a service shortly before the earthquake hit, a fact Sister Maria Omaira Orozco described as a "miracle of God." She recounted moments of intense panic and fear during the tremor, with residents crying and screaming, but all managed to evacuate the building safely, including three women over the age of 100.

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There were moments of great panic, a lot of screaming. The old people screamed, they cried.

Following the earthquake, residents could not return to their rooms due to the lack of electricity, water, and gas. The sisters established a temporary shelter in a less damaged area, laying out mattresses on the floor for the elderly residents and themselves. Local community members provided food assistance as the home's structural integrity was compromised.

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We felt this as a miracle of God that we all got out.

The nursing home is now empty, with its residents transferred to other facilities within the order or to their families. For the elderly residents, many of whom had lived at the home for years, leaving the place they knew as home was a difficult and emotional experience. The sisters believe it was divine intervention that the residents were together in prayer during the earthquake and that a large piece of debris narrowly missed them, highlighting how close the situation was to a greater tragedy.

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They were very sad, some were very emotionally attached to this place.