Colombia rescue efforts continue as earthquake death toll passes 160

Rescue efforts are intensifying across western Colombia as emergency workers comb through the debris of collapsed buildings and flattened homes following the nation's most powerful earthquake in decades.

The 7.4-magnitude tremor struck early Monday, tearing through the heart of Colombia's coffee-growing region. Authorities have confirmed at least 164 fatalities, but fear the death toll could climb as search operations continue. The quake reduced multi-story structures to rubble in cities like Pereira and Cali, and even damaged a historic cathedral tower in Manizales.

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A moment ago there was scratching but now we can’t hear anything, we still have faith that the dog is alive and we can get these people out.

Emergency teams, bolstered by police, soldiers, and volunteers, worked through the night using excavators and their bare hands to find survivors. In Cali, a city of 2.2 million, at least 85 people died. Dozens of buildings were left leaning precariously or destroyed, forcing residents into the streets. Some hospital floors, including those dedicated to pediatric care, collapsed, trapping patients and forcing the evacuation of hundreds more to be treated on rubble-strewn streets.

Carmen Yasmin Garcia, a Cali resident volunteering with rescue teams, described the harrowing search. "A moment ago there was scratching but now we can’t hear anything, we still have faith that the dog is alive and we can get these people out," she said, appealing for more help. In Pereira, the capital of the hard-hit Risaralda state, 66 deaths were reported, with entire residential blocks reduced to concrete and steel wreckage. The rural province of Choco, closest to the epicenter, reported 13 deaths.

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We need people with sticks and spades, the more people lending a hand the better.