Colombia Earthquake: Operation Blessing deploys disaster relief team; death toll passes 200
Christian relief group Operation Blessing is deploying disaster relief workers from its Global Disaster Response team into Colombia after an earthquake left more than 200 people dead and caused widespread destruction in the country’s west.
The team is scheduled to leave Wednesday for Colombia, where it will assess damage, identify the areas of greatest need and work with local partners to determine how best to help affected families and communities, the charity said in a statement sent to The Christian Post.
The organization’s relief effort in Venezuela, where teams have been assisting families hit by earlier earthquakes, will continue without interruption.
“Whenever disaster strikes, our first priority is to get on the ground, understand the needs and determine where we can make the greatest difference,” said Operation Blessing President Drew Friedrich. “As our work continues in Venezuela, we are now mobilizing an additional team to Colombia to stand alongside families there and provide practical help and hope during an incredibly difficult time.”
The aid could include hygiene kits, food, clean water and other supplies, among them solar lanterns the team plans to bring, said the organization, which has decades of experience responding to disasters in the region.
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday. The Colombian Geological Service called it the strongest quake the country has recorded since 2000, with several aftershocks.
At least 250 have died, hundreds of buildings sustained damage, and others were trapped under debris as loved ones and rescue crews dug through the wreckage, Reuters reported.
Rescue teams and residents searched rubble in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city. Tremors also reached Pereira, Quibdo and Manizales, and were felt in Ecuador and Panama.
The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter near San Jose del Palmar, a Choco region town of roughly 4,800 residents, about 250 miles west of Bogota.
Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia’s president, said roughly 1,600 structures were damaged, 61 of them destroyed outright. He declared a state of emergency to speed recovery funding and said the government would stand fully behind those affected.
By Monday afternoon, an online registry of the missing in Colombia had logged more than 2,000 names, mostly from Cali and Pereira, with the count still rising, according to the Associated Press.
Cali’s city government said people remained trapped inside some of the 380 buildings there that sustained damage. In Choco, officials reported dozens of injuries and damaged buildings, and phone service was down in parts of the regional capital, Quibdo.
San Jose del Palmar, near the epicenter, has no airport and sits along a mountain ridge on the highway linking Cali and Pereira.
In Pereira, pieces of the airport ceiling fell on travelers taking shelter, and local media showed people running through rubble as stores and homes collapsed.
Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar said at least 15 buildings had collapsed there, with people feared trapped inside.
In Manizales, one tower of a neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed onto the nave, and Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas told residents to stay outside because of aftershocks.
Flights were grounded at Pereira, Cartago, Manizales, Buenaventura, Quibdo and Armenia as authorities inspected runways and terminals for damage.
In a late Monday announcement, the U.S. State Department said it was pledging $15.5 million to cover food, shelter and other earthquake relief costs. Several other governments throughout Latin America also stepped forward with offers of help.
