Father recounts saving baby during Pereira earthquake: 'We almost didn't make it out'

Juan Felipe Mercado described the terrifying experience of holding his 18-month-old daughter, María Belén, when a powerful earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia. The tremor, which began subtly, quickly escalated into a violent shaking that threatened to collapse their apartment building.

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When I started seeing the walls cracking, everything falling down, and the door frame cracked, we all got out of there.

"When I started seeing the walls cracking, everything falling down, and the door frame cracked, we all got out of there," Mercado recounted. He was with his baby and two elderly women. The escape from their residential building was a desperate race against time, with a wall collapsing behind them as they fled. "We were almost crushed by that wall. With the baby in my arms, with the panic, it was hell. I never thought I would live through something like this," he confessed, still processing the destruction of his home.

Mercado managed to send an audio message to his family in Medellín, confirming they were alive: "Our apartment came down, we almost didn't make it out." His wife was fortunately at a medical appointment and did not witness the destruction firsthand. The earthquake caused significant damage in Pereira's city center, with many buildings collapsing and infrastructure severely affected. In their building, burst pipes flooded the parking garage, and falling roof tiles damaged vehicles, though Mercado's car was spared.

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We were almost crushed by that wall. With the baby in my arms, with the panic, it was hell. I never thought I would live through something like this.

The family is now staying with friends while they await permission to retrieve belongings from their severely damaged apartment, which Mercado described as "ruined."

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Our apartment came down, we almost didn't make it out.