The quake struck shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time, hitting multiple cities across Colombia's western region with Pereira among the hardest hit, according to CBS News. By Monday night, officials reported more than 570 injured and over 2,700 people missing as families searched online for relatives. Search and rescue teams deployed across affected areas, working through rubble in a race against the critical 48-hour survival window.
The first 48 hours after a major earthquake determine whether the operation becomes a rescue or a recovery. Power outages, damaged infrastructure, and communication blackouts compound the crisis. Every hour without locating survivors reduces their chances. For Colombia's emergency response system, this is a test of logistics under extreme pressure.
Earthquakes expose the gap between a country's emergency plans and its ability to execute them under chaos. Colombia now faces brutal questions: how fast can rescuers pull people from concrete, how quickly can authorities restore power and communication, and whether the missing count falls or climbs. The next 72 hours will determine if this becomes a contained tragedy or a cascading failure.
Filed to the World desk · 10 hours ago