Colombia, earthquake death toll rises to 132: curfew in Cali

The death toll from the earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday, August 10, has risen in recent hours to at least 132 dead, according to the ANSA news agency. The magnitude 7.4 quake had its epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocò, and also affected the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca. Compared with what was known this morning, when the death count was still in its early hours, the picture has worsened substantially: hundreds of injured have been recorded and thousands of buildings have been damaged, including homes, schools and hospitals.

The hardest-hit city remains Cali, where mayor Alejandro Éder reported more than 85 dead and 885 injured in the urban area alone — a figure that on its own accounts for the largest share of the national toll. Faced with the risk of unrest in the most damaged areas, the mayor declared a curfew and ordered the militarization of some parts of the city.

“We have alerts and threats of looting in various parts of the city” — Alejandro Éder, mayor of Cali

The mayor’s statement, reported by ANSA, captures the most delicate phase of the emergency response: not only aid for people still trapped under rubble, but also the maintenance of public order in a city where thousands of people lost their homes overnight.

In the other areas affected by the earthquake besides Cali, the available sources do not provide a breakdown of victims by territory: the overall toll of 132 dead therefore includes these areas as well, but without more precise detail. This is an uncertainty that must be stated: the final number of victims and missing persons has not yet been established, and the sources themselves have revised the figures upward several times in recent hours.

On the aid front, the United States has announced an allocation of 15.5 million dollars in emergency relief for Colombia, according to Il Post based on statements from Colombian authorities. The allocation comes as rescue teams continue digging through rubble in the most isolated areas of Chocò, the region where the epicenter is located and where access is made more difficult by the terrain.

The news is today supported by three distinct sources — two separate ANSA dispatches and an article from Il Post, which in turn cites Colombian authorities — a level of confirmation that places the Colombian earthquake among the best-documented stories of the day.

At this time, local authorities have not provided a final estimate of the number of missing persons nor a timeline for the end of the public disaster status in the hardest-hit areas of Chocò and Valle del Cauca.