Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Passes 250 as Six Airports Stay Closed and Rescue Crews Report Nearly 100 Aftershocks

Since the magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia at 7:34 a.m. local time Monday, the confirmed death toll has climbed past 180, while separate local counts from officials in Cali and Pereira put the number above 250, according to Reuters reporting carried by CBC and Channel News Asia. Colombia's president, Abelardo de la Espriella, gave the official figure as 181 dead as of Tuesday, according to CBS News. A Wikipedia summary citing aggregated local reporting listed 254 dead, more than 2,500 injured and over 4,000 missing.

The gap between the official number and the local estimates is the product of a genuinely broken information system in the immediate aftermath of a disaster this size. Communications, electricity and roads are down across large parts of Chocó, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda departments, according to the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA and Colombia's Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara, who told Blu Radio the government's immediate focus is "saving lives, guaranteeing the arrival of rescue teams, bringing in medical supplies and field hospitals." Rural and mountainous areas near the epicenter are especially hard to reach, which is why officials keep warning the toll will keep rising as crews reach isolated towns.

Missing-persons numbers show the same split. De la Espriella put the official missing count at 195, according to CBS News. But civilian-run databases where families are posting information about loved ones suggest the number could be as high as 3,900, CBS reported. That's an enormous discrepancy, and it reflects the chaos of trying to track people across a disaster zone with no phone service, not evidence that any government agency is hiding numbers.

What rescuers are dealing with on the ground

In Cali, a city of 2.2 million, Mayor Alejandro Eder said Tuesday that 239 people remained trapped, with 949 injured and 45 buildings either fully or partially collapsed, according to BBC. Part of a hospital, including sections dedicated to pediatric care, caved in. Hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television that 600 patients were being treated in the street outside the damaged facility. Cali's public health secretary, German Escobar, said the city morgue was already full, according to Channel News Asia.

In Pereira, a city of roughly 500,000 people about 35 miles from the epicenter, the city's fire department put local deaths at 79 to 101 depending on the count cited, and the city went dark Monday night. "We're without power. This seems honestly like a zombie city," resident Juan David Gaitan told AFP, quoted by CBS News. Volunteers used flashlights to navigate collapsed streets overnight and formed human chains to pull rubble off suspected survivors by hand.

At the Gimnasio Calima school in Cali's Calima neighborhood, four children died when part of the building collapsed, and 30 children were referred to care centers, according to BBC, citing local mayor Antonio Cadavid.

Nearly 100 aftershocks have hit the region since Monday, according to Channel News Asia, with Colombia's geological service recording individual tremors as strong as magnitude 5.0, per Wikipedia's summary of the event. That's kept residents sleeping outdoors even where homes are still standing, out of fear of further collapse.

Infrastructure damage is widespread and will slow the response for weeks

Six airports, in Quibdó, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura, remained closed Tuesday due to damage or safety inspections, according to the Tico Times. That complicates getting medical personnel, supplies and heavy rescue equipment into the hardest-hit zones. Roads across the region have also been damaged, per the same report.

OCHA estimated nearly 5,000 homes damaged and dozens of buildings collapsed, with damage also reported at 18 health centers and 52 educational facilities, according to UN News. De la Espriella separately said more than 1,100 homes were destroyed and over 8,300 damaged, a higher figure than OCHA's, again reflecting the gap between UN estimates based on early reporting and the Colombian government's own tally as more data comes in.

The political and humanitarian response

De la Espriella, who was inaugurated just three days before the quake, declared a national state of emergency and, speaking from Pereira, announced a three-month economic relief measure for people in the Risaralda coffee-growing region. "It broke my heart going through the city center and seeing all these businesses destroyed," he said, according to Channel News Asia.

The World Food Programme said it has the capacity to provide humanitarian assistance if requested by the Colombian government, and the Pan American Health Organization said it is in close contact with authorities, according to UN News. UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the organization "stands ready to help as needed."

Cali imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. to prevent looting in damaged neighborhoods, and Pereira declared a car-free day Tuesday to keep roads clear for search crews, according to BBC.

The unresolved question now is how high the final toll climbs once crews reach the remote communities near San José del Palmar in Chocó, where terrain, damaged infrastructure and disrupted communications have so far kept officials from getting a clear damage assessment at all.