Colombia Suffers Heavy Casualties and Widespread Destruction After Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake
24 sources across 18 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state
Who reported this
- Infobae
- La Nacion
- G1
- Folha de S.Paulo
- El Espectador
- El Tiempo
- Le Monde
- France 24
- Der Spiegel
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- Tempo English
- The Jakarta Post
- The Daily Star
- La Tercera
- South China Morning Post
- ANSA
- The Japan Times
- Philippine Daily Inquirer
- Al Jazeera
- El Pais
- Taipei Times
- Bangkok Post
- BBC News
- CNN
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, August 10, causing significant loss of life and widespread structural damage. Reports on the death toll vary across sources: some outlets cite at least 241 deaths, while others report 181 or 216 fatalities. The earthquake injured over 1,600 people and left hundreds missing. The epicenter was located in San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, though the tremors were felt as far away as Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Manaus, Brazil.
Rescue operations are concentrated in the cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales, and Quibdó. In Cali, the third largest city in the country, several buildings collapsed and part of the Hospital Universitario del Valle was destroyed, forcing patients to be treated in a parking lot. In Manizales, the city cathedral suffered damage to one of its towers. The Colombian National Indigenous Organization reported that over 68,500 indigenous people were affected, with thousands of homes damaged in the regions of Caldas, Chocó, Quindío, Risaralda, and Valle del Cauca.
President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on Friday, declared a national state of emergency and a state of economic emergency. The government is coordinating with the World Bank for a potential 450 million dollar credit and has received international aid offers totaling 1.3 billion dollars. The United States specifically pledged 15.5 million dollars in immediate assistance.
Infrastructure damage has been extensive. Eighteen roads and several health facilities were affected, and the national aviation authority temporarily suspended operations at six regional airports to inspect runways. While most airports have since reopened, the Matecaña airport in Pereira remains limited to state and humanitarian flights. The Colombian Geological Service also reported nearly 50 aftershocks following the initial quake, including a notable tremor on the night of August 11.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- These outlets focused heavily on the human tragedy, detailing personal stories of survivors and the struggle of those who lost their homes.
- Centre
- These outlets provided a balanced mix of rescue efforts, casualty figures, and logistical updates on airport reopenings.
- Centre-right
- These outlets emphasized the government's administrative response, including the declaration of economic emergency and the specifics of international financial aid.
Sources
- Centre ANSA: Over 1.3 billion dollars in international aid to Colombia after the earthquake
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: Search for survivors underway in Colombia’s earthquake aftermath
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: On the ground in Cali, Colombia’s worst-hit city after the quake
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: Colombia scrambles to find survivors after deadly earthquake
- Centre BBC News: Rescuers scramble for survivors with 180 dead in Colombia earthquake
- Centre BBC News: Anguish of Colombian brother at rubble of building being searched for earthquake survivors
- Centre Bangkok Post: Colombia scrambles to find survivors as quake kills 240
- Centre-left CNN: Resident says shaking ‘kept going and going’ after Colombia quake struck
- Centre-left CNN: CNN on scene in Pereira, Colombia as desperate rescues underway
- Centre-left CNN: CNN on the scene of Colombia rescue operation
- Centre-left CNN: Rescue efforts underway in Colombia after earthquake
- Centre-left CNN: Colombians tell CNN they desperately need more equipment for rescue efforts
- Centre-left CNN: Colombian baby rescued from under piles of rubble after powerful earthquake
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Earthquake in Colombia: Hundreds dead, thousands missing
- Centre-left El Espectador: De la Espriella officialized the declaration of a national disaster situation
- Centre-left El Espectador: Balance of impacts in indigenous communities in Chocó after earthquake; they ask for assistance
- Centre-left El Espectador: Earthquake: death of six students in Yumbo and Calima El Darién, in Valle confirmed
- Centre-left El Espectador: De la Espriella proposes implementing virtual classes after earthquake emergency
- Centre-left El Espectador: Government reaffirms emergency declaration and channels international aid for earthquake
- Centre-left El Espectador: “I can no longer return to my house”: the drama of the victims of the earthquake in Manizales
- Centre-left El Pais: Colombia pours itself into the rescue of the earthquake survivors: "Do not wear yourselves out here, the only sign of life is on the other side"
- Centre-left El Pais: Colombia in the 72 hours after the earthquake: unequal deployment and hesitations regarding international aid
- Centre-left El Pais: Colombia, united by tragedy
- Centre-right El Tiempo: Miracle after 36 hours of the earthquake in Colombia | Daniela Largo was rescued in a collapsed building in Pereira: rescuer revealed how they found her
- Centre-right El Tiempo: Not even the Museo Rayo was saved from the strong 7.4 tremor that almost turns Roldanillo back into a 'Magical Town' of rubble
- Centre-right El Tiempo: Ascopitales launches platform to report missing persons after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake: the faces they seek in the midst of the tragedy
- Centre-right El Tiempo: Medicina Legal identifies third group of victims of the 7.4 earthquake in Colombia: complete list of new names and their places of origin
- Centre-right El Tiempo: The faces of the missing in several regions of Colombia and whose relatives search for them desperately under the rubble
- Centre-right El Tiempo: Tremor today in Colombia | New aftershock reported in epicenter of 7.4 earthquake on the night of this August 11: they claim to perceive it in Cali and Medellín
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Residents pile objects in the streets of city hit by earthquake in Colombia
- Centre France 24: Colombia: residents and rescuers searching for the missing
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Magnitude 7.4: More Than 180 Dead After Severe Earthquake in Colombia
- Centre-left G1: JN team follows rescues in earthquake in Colombia
- Centre-right Infobae: A 32 year old woman rescued alive in Pereira, in western Colombia, after seven hours of searching
- Centre-right Infobae: A woman is rescued alive in Pereira, in western Colombia, after seven hours of searching
- Centre-right La Nacion: He is from Bahía Blanca, lives in Cali, survived the earthquake and then spent eight hours among the rubble: "This was the end of the world"
- Centre-right La Nacion: A specialist explained in detail why it is the worst earthquake in Colombia of the last decade and why it is a "trial by fire" today for the country
- Centre-right La Tercera: The dramatic stories of survival and death after the earthquake that hit Colombia
- Centre-left Le Monde: Earthquake in Colombia: 216 dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to a new toll
- Centre Philippine Daily Inquirer: Colombia rescuers find woman alive as quake death toll passes 200
- Centre-right South China Morning Post: Colombian woman pulled alive from rubble as earthquake death toll tops 200
- Centre-left Taipei Times: Colombia scrambles to find survivors as quake kills 169
- Centre-left Tempo English: Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 254 as Rescuers Search for Survivors
- Centre The Daily Star: Colombians dig through rubble as quake death toll surpasses 240
- Centre-left The Jakarta Post: Colombians dig through rubble as quake death toll surpasses 240
- Centre The Japan Times: ‘Waiting for any sign of life’: Colombia reels after earthquake
93% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.