Cali, Colombia – A day after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake shook western Colombia, rescue groups are frantically preventing by way of the rubble of collapsed buildings to search out survivors and get better our bodies.
The highly effective quake has brought on at the very least 254 deaths nationwide, most of them concentrated within the cities of Pereira and Cali, in keeping with authorities figures.
“For me, the earthquake felt everlasting,” recalled Luis Saenz, a 22-year-old journalism pupil from Cali.
Saenz was at dwelling having fun with his morning espresso when the quake struck at 7:34am (12:34 GMT) on Monday. He remembers his cat darting below the mattress, then chaos as his household fled into the road.
Some 5,000 houses suffered injury, in keeping with the United Nations Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, whereas dozens of buildings – lots of them residential – collapsed solely.
In Cali, Colombia’s third-largest metropolis, at the very least 95 individuals died, and 45 constructions have absolutely or partially collapsed, in keeping with native authorities statistics.
“I by no means thought I’d see my metropolis like this,” resident Maria Isabel Cumbal mentioned between sobs, as she watched rescue efforts unfold on the Vanessa Constructing within the south of the town.
The seven-storey residential house block was decreased to wreckage in Monday’s earthquake.
Rescuers now wield hammers, shovels and heavy equipment in an try to pierce by way of thick slabs of concrete and rescue the estimated 20 individuals trapped beneath.
On and across the collapsed residence, lots of of volunteers assist to clear the rubble by forming a human chain to move buckets from atop the mound of particles all the way down to dump vans.
Occasionally, a rescuer will maintain up a fist to name for silence, in order that emergency responders can hear for indicators of life.
