{"id":996447,"date":"2026-08-12T17:39:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/996447\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:39:27","slug":"rescuers-race-against-time-to-find-survivors-after-colombia-earthquake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/996447\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescuers race against time to find survivors after Colombia earthquake"},"content":{"rendered":"

PEREIRA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 The search for survivors in the rubble of Colombia\u2019s<\/a> powerful earthquake grew more desperate<\/a> on Wednesday, two days after the quake brought down buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars.<\/p>\n

The devastation has tested<\/a> Colombia\u2019s new President Abelardo de la Espriella<\/a> and his government as it scrambles to respond to the natural disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the vulnerable communities most affected by the quake. <\/p>\n

By Tuesday, de la Espriella said the 7.4 magnitude earthquake had killed at least 181 people and left 2,595 more injured in the west of the country. He said at least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run databases put that number at more than 4,000 Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Teams continued to pick through the rubble overnight in the hardest-hit cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo, as time ticked away for victims to be found \u2014 and rescued \u2014 alive.<\/p>\n

Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours crucial for retrieving survivors, though that threshold can be extended if those trapped have access to food and water.<\/p>\n

Survival takes many forms in hard-hit areas<\/p>\n

There have been fleeting moments of hope amid the devastation.<\/p>\n

In hard-hit Pereira, rescuers pulled Daniela Largo alive from the rubble late Tuesday, capping a complex 12-hour rescue in which crews carved a small opening through the debris to free her pinned arm and a doctor administered IV fluids to stabilize her. Wrapped in a blue blanket, the young woman was carried to a waiting ambulance as firefighters embraced and onlookers erupted in cheers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Neighbors<\/p>\n

Neighbors embrace as rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed apartment building the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n

Neighbors embrace as rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed apartment building the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n

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\"Residents<\/p>\n

\n Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga)\n <\/p>\n

Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga)<\/p>\n

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\"People<\/p>\n

\n People search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga)\n <\/p>\n

People search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga)<\/p>\n

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Across the coffee-growing region, among the areas worst affected by the quake, authorities have converted sports arenas, schools and other public buildings into temporary shelters for thousands of displaced Colombians. In Pereira and Cali, families have been sleeping in parks \u2014 some fearing aftershocks or the collapse of their damaged homes, others without homes to return to. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Rescue<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Residents<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the most important things: a roof over our heads, food, water and, in my case, medical care,\u201d said Edith Penagos, 48, who was staying with her teenage son in one of the white tents set up in a Pereira park after the earthquake forced them from their apartment.<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s geological service has documented 130 aftershocks since the quake. <\/p>\n

Rodrigo Le\u00f3n Loya, a seismologist and professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of the Andes, said the probability of an earthquake of a similar magnitude occurring in the same area has fallen because \u201cthe accumulated energy\u201d has been released. But he would not rule out more seismic activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s remember that Colombia is full of active fault lines,\u201d he said. \u201cThe question isn\u2019t whether it can happen again. The question is rather when an earthquake of similar magnitude will occur at another of Colombia\u2019s seismic sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Regional partners promise help and aid groups already on the ground dig in<\/p>\n

In many areas, the official response to the disaster<\/a> has been complicated by the ongoing crises of deep poverty and civil warfare that has created waves of forced displacement for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis earthquake compounds an already severe humanitarian situation, and there is a need for increased support for the humanitarian response,\u201d said Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Volunteers<\/p>\n

Volunteers and rescue workers use buckets to remove debris of a collapsed building a day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga)<\/p>\n

Volunteers and rescue workers use buckets to remove debris of a collapsed building a day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo\/Santiago Saldarriaga)<\/p>\n

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Many aid organizations were already on the ground at the epicenter of the quake in Colombia, supporting a 2016 peace accord between the government and leftist rebels, and responding to violence involving other armed groups that has persisted since then, particularly in Choco.<\/p>\n

That presence allowed humanitarian workers to quickly pivot to disaster relief, said Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a presence on the ground. Therefore, our ability to be there, present with the people, I think, has increased exponentially,\u201d Torres said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n

At the same time, aid from other countries and nonprofits abroad continued to roll in.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the State Department said it would send two search and rescue teams to Colombia that helped with rescue efforts in Venezuela just weeks before. The U.S. has also offered over $15 million in aid. <\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s president has said she is prepared to send hundreds of search and health workers, tons of health supplies and other equipment. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday afternoon, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his country would send two planes loaded with 100 tons of aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur prayers are with the families of the victims, the wounded and all the Colombian people,\u201d Bukele wrote on X.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People camp out in a park two days after an earthquake damaged their homes in Pereira, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n

People camp out in a park two days after an earthquake damaged their homes in Pereira, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n

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___<\/p>\n

Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia, and Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Gabriela Aoun in San Diego contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PEREIRA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 The search for survivors in the rubble of Colombia\u2019s powerful earthquake grew more desperate…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":996448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[342955,1613,12575,12576,399218,399222,12635,399221,57,399219,1612,69716,50,399220,4217,84467,29038,103,107],"class_list":["post-996447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-abelardo-de-la-espriella","tag-central-america","tag-colombia","tag-colombia-government","tag-columbia-earthquake","tag-daniela-largo","tag-earthquakes","tag-edith-penagos","tag-general-news","tag-giovanni-rizzo","tag-latin-america","tag-nayib-bukele","tag-news","tag-rodrigo-len-loya","tag-south-america","tag-torres","tag-water-rights","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117083765517366733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=996447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/996448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=996447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=996447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=996447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}