Colombia quake toll rises past 180 as rescuers dig for survivors in Pereira

Rescue teams and volunteers in the Colombian city of Pereira continued a painstaking search through the rubble on Tuesday, hoping to find survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia a day earlier.

The 7.4-magnitude tremor wreaked widespread destruction, flattening concrete structures, buckling roads, and crushing vehicles. In affected neighbourhoods, residents consoled one another amid the wreckage of their homes.

Excavators and heavy machinery were deployed to clear large chunks of concrete, while volunteers formed human chains to pass buckets of rubble by hand. At times, crews raised their hands to call for silence, listening for any sign of life beneath the debris. At least one woman was pulled out alive from the ruins.

President Abelardo de la Espriella visited Pereira on Tuesday to meet rescue workers and survey the damage. He said the earthquake had killed at least 181 people and injured 2,595 others. Official figures put the number of missing at 195, though civilian-run databases suggest the true figure could be closer to 4,000.

One rescue worker at the scene described an ongoing operation for a person believed to be trapped under the rubble — a hairdresser, according to information from the family. The worker said two bodies had been recovered from that site the previous day, along with one survivor.

The search effort continues across dozens of cities and towns, with authorities and volunteers working against time to locate those still unaccounted for.