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Earthquake kills 329 in Colombia
Colombia’s confirmed earthquake death toll has risen to 329 as recovery moves from rescue to rebuilding.
What happened
Colombia’s disaster agency raised the confirmed death toll from the August tenth magnitude-seven-point-four earthquake to 329. It counted 4,600 injured people and 247 missing. The quake affected communities across sixteen departments, damaging housing, health centers, schools and roads. The government declared an economic, social and ecological emergency for relief and reconstruction.
Numbers
- 329confirmed deaths from the earthquake — Latest official tally
- 4,600people reported injured — Latest official tally
- 247people still missing — Latest official tally
- 314,751people affected across Colombia — In affected families
Questions
- Where was the earthquake centred?
- It struck near San José del Palmar in Chocó and was Colombia’s strongest earthquake in a quarter-century to date.
- Why was an emergency declared?
- It opens an emergency framework for victim assistance and reconstruction, including commerce and essential public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
- How widespread is the damage?
- Affected families are spread across four hundred eighty-one municipalities in sixteen departments, while damage includes homes, clinics, schools, community centers and roads.
- What are engineers doing now?
- Volunteer engineers from Medellín are assessing whether homes in Armenia and nearby towns are safe for families to occupy.
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The catch
Fatality, injury and damage totals remain provisional as searches and assessments continue.
Official figures have changed.