THE WASHINGTON POST: Rescuers scramble to find survivors as death toll in Colombia’s powerful earthquake rises

Rescuers are racing to find survivors trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia.

Local authorities reported at least 150 deaths and hundreds more injured in the Monday morning quake, with both numbers likely to rise. In the city of Cali, where 85 were killed and 885 injured, 25 people remained trapped under a single collapsed building in the Capri neighborhood, Mayor Alejandro Eder said on social media overnight.

Colombia’s armed forces shared images of a search underway in Cali, where dogs and drones equipped with thermal cameras were being used to identify victims under the rubble.

The Colombian Association of Capital Cities, which represents cities that account for nearly half of Colombia’s population, said Pereira, Cali, Quibdó, Manizales and Armenia remain under red alert with dozens of collapsed buildings and disruptions to airports, hospitals, roads, energy, water and telecommunications.

The earthquake, which hit near San José del Palmar on Colombia’s Pacific coast shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time Monday, was the strongest to hit the country in a decade, according to the Colombian Geological Service. It was felt in the capital Bogotá as well as neighboring Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.

Efforts to search for survivors in scores of collapsed buildings have continued through the night. Images and videos online show crowds of workers climbing piles of rubble and heavy machinery being used in some cases.

Local television showed rescue workers calling for silence as they listened for survivors beneath a concrete slab. Neighbors and volunteers held up fists and repeated: “Silence!”

In Pereira, Mayor Mauricio Salazar said in an emotional televised address Monday that 55 people had been killed. At least 13 deaths were reported by Chocó Gov. Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi, while Manizales Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas reported five deaths, along with 160 damaged buildings.

Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella - who was inaugurated just three days before the quake - said he had taken leadership of the quake response and established a unified command post for coordination.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is monitoring the response and “stands ready to support the people of Colombia” and the de la Espriella administration. The State Department said it committed $15.5 million in funding for emergency shelter, food protection and earthquake assessments. The European Union said it had mobilized satellite service Copernicus to help with rescue operations.

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