Colombia’s President has thanked Spain’s Royal Family for its expression of solidarity after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck the west of the country on August 10. He said he shared its concern for the 164 Spanish nationals who remain unaccounted for.
Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on August 7, wrote on social media that Spain and Colombia were joined by historical and human ties that were felt more strongly at a moment of grief.
The Spanish Royal Household had posted a message of support for the Colombian people hours earlier. It said its thoughts were with the missing, among them the 164 Spaniards who had yet to be located.
Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares confirmed the figure on August 11 during a visit to Ceuta. He said consular staff had reached every Spaniard on the ministry’s initial register in Colombia apart from those 164, and that there was no record of any Spanish national killed or injured.
Madrid has stressed that the number reflects lost contact rather than confirmed casualties. Power, telephone and internet failures across Chocó, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda have slowed efforts to trace people.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union would make €2 million ($2.3 million) available to communities in the worst affected areas. The funding comes on top of the bloc’s Copernicus satellite service, mobilised to map the damage for rescue teams.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said the consular crisis mechanism run by the European External Action Service had been activated to assist EU citizens caught up in the disaster. She said further money was being channelled through the Red Cross.
De la Espriella said on August 11 that the earthquake had killed at least 181 people and injured 2,595, with 195 listed as missing. Tallies compiled by local authorities put the death toll above 250, while civilian databases suggest the number of missing could run into the thousands.
The epicentre was at San José del Palmar in Chocó, northwest Colombia, at a depth of about 110 kilometres. The Colombian Government has counted 1,136 homes destroyed and 8,357 damaged, along with 48 collapsed buildings and damage to 807 schools.
Curfews have been imposed in Cali and Pereira after looting, with soldiers deployed to the streets and six western airports out of commercial service.
Spain’s consular network is handling a second Latin American disaster at the same time. Albares said 56 Spaniards had died and 136 remained missing after the Venezuelan earthquakes of June 24.
