Colombia Launches Massive Rebuilding Effort After Deadly Earthquake

CALI, Colombia – As rescue operations wind down following a devastating earthquake, Colombia faces the formidable task of rebuilding a nation shattered by a disaster that claimed at least 285 lives and affected over 100,000 people.

According to government reports, tens of thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed, with thousands of schools, medical facilities, and community centers also sustaining damage across more than 400 cities.

Ebert Jonathan Morales, 38, speaking from a shelter in Cali, one of the hardest-hit cities alongside Pereira, Manizales, and Quibdo, said: “There is no place to live, we lost everything.” Morales is among the 102,263 people whose lives have been upended by the 7.4-magnitude quake that struck the South American country on Monday. Officials report more than 280 deaths, nearly 4,000 injuries, and hundreds still missing, while private groups estimate the number of missing is in the thousands.

Like tens of thousands of others, Morales is trying to rebuild his life from scratch with his wife and four children. “The earthquake destroyed several neighborhoods in the city. Many houses were damaged, and buildings collapsed,” he said. “We are going to stay here until the government gives us some help, some support.”

President Abelardo de la Espriella, inaugurated just days before the quake shook the country’s west, acknowledged Thursday night that “the situation is complex” and announced a plan to partner with private companies to rebuild the nation, as well as provide subsidies for families left homeless.

“We will not overcome this tragedy alone as a government,” he said. “We need the private sector to rebuild Colombia together.”

Monday’s earthquake was the most powerful to hit Colombia this century. Government aid has yet to arrive in some areas, where many people are relying on volunteers and neighbors for help.

Olga Castro, a mother of five, told The Associated Press: “A neighbor is giving me shelter.” She added: “At least we survived, but right now we are practically on the street because we don’t have a home anymore.”

De la Espriella said national and international funds raised in response to the disaster will focus on the reconstruction of hospitals, schools, homes, roads, and airports.

But rebuilding the country requires a “serious technical assessment” to determine which buildings can be used, which can be repaired, and which must be demolished and rebuilt, said Yezid Alvarado Vargas, a professor in construction engineering at Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia.

“Before even discussing reconstruction, we must guarantee temporary housing, food, healthcare, continuity of basic services and economic support for families who lost their homes or livelihoods,” Alvarado said.

Local authorities have opened schools, parks, and public buildings as shelters, providing tents, mattresses, and food to the displaced. In other parts of the hardest-hit cities, residents have improvised shelters in the streets, while hundreds of volunteers have rushed to help those in greatest need, particularly in less accessible areas.

“These are isolated, neglected territories, historically lacking in institutional support, already plagued by violence, and now they are hit by an earthquake of this magnitude,” said María Mercedes Liévano, director of Save the Children in Colombia.

“It’s a crisis on top of a crisis, leaving the population in a situation of extreme vulnerability,” she added, citing communities including Buenaventura, the country’s main port, and Chocó, the earthquake’s epicenter.

De la Espriella is expected to visit several cities Friday to track relief efforts and aid distribution, including Quibdo in the Chocó region and Pereira. Meanwhile, authorities are awaiting tons of supplies and humanitarian aid from countries that have pledged support, including Peru, China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.

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