CALI, Colombia — The four Jaramillo sisters arrived at the hospital at 7 a.m. Tuesday in hopes of seeing their father again.
Héctor Jaramillo, 56, was recovering from a tracheostomy at Del Valle University Hospital on Monday when a six-story wing collapsed in the 7.4-magnitude earthquake here. Five people, including a child, were rescued alive from the rubble, a hospital official said. But as of Tuesday evening, there was no sign of Jaramillo.
“My father is truly a beautiful soul,” Vanessa Jaramillo said, tears in her eyes. “We’re all extremely worried — my family, everyone is closely following what’s happening. But we still have complete faith that he will come out of that place alive.”
Responders in Colombia’s third-largest city raced Tuesday to free and treat survivors of the quake that struck the country’s Pacific coast shortly after 7:30 a.m. Monday. Across the country, at least 220 people are dead and hundreds injured, authorities reported, numbers that are expected to climb as rescue and recovery operations continue. Dozens of buildings in Cali, Pereira, Quibdó and Armenia were destroyed, and water, power, communications, schools, airports and roads were disrupted.
“We will not leave you alone,” President Abelardo De La Espriella told Colombians on Tuesday. “We are facing this painful tragedy with all the capacity of the state and with infinite gratitude toward the heroes who protect our people and toward the thousands of Colombians who have joined in solidarity for the victims.”
The disaster is an early test for De La Espriella, who was inaugurated in Cali on Friday. He said Tuesday he would suspend utility bills for affected families for three months and grant rental subsidies for those who lost their homes.
The United States and other nations have pledged support. The State Department has committed $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food protection and assessment. Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Peru offered search-and-rescue teams. El Salvador pledged 100 tons of humanitarian aid. Neighboring Venezuela, recovering from twin earthquakes in June, announced search-and-rescue teams and aid. The European Union mobilized the satellite service Copernicus to help with rescue operations.
The quake was the strongest to hit this South American country in a decade, according to the government geological service, and was felt in Bogotá, the capital, 150 miles from the epicenter, and neighboring Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.
Videos online showed crowds of workers and volunteers digging through broken steel, glass and concrete.
Bogotá Mayor Carlos F. Galán shared a video from Cali of a man being rescued around 4 a.m. by a team from the capital. Carlos Esteban Rebolledo, 35, suffered minor injuries, Galán said. “Every minute counts and all help is needed.”
La solidaridad y el trabajo en equipo salvan vidas. Desde ayer, el equipo de Búsqueda y Rescate Urbano de @BomberosBogota ha trabajado sin descanso en Cali. Esta madrugada, sobre las 3:57 am, lograron rescatar con vida a un hombre de 35 años de los escombros. Carlos Esteban… pic.twitter.com/1CsD5zRBWh
— Carlos F. Galán (@CarlosFGalan) August 11, 2026
The Colombian Army shared images of dogs and drones equipped with thermal cameras searching for victims. “Our rescue soldiers work among the rubble with a mission that allows no pauses: to find life and protect it,” the Military Engineers wrote.
Four hospitals in Cali, 100 miles from the epicenter, suffered severe damage, halted operations and relocated patients, the city’s health secretary, Germán Escobar, told The Washington Post. At least 95 people in the city are dead and 997 injured, local authorities said. More than 200 remained trapped, Mayor Alejandro Eder said Tuesday morning.
The damage to the hospitals was a “surprise,” Escobar said, given the stringent construction codes that apply to Colombia’s health infrastructure.
Luis Torres, a 29-year-old medic at Del Valle University Hospital, had just started his shift when he felt the ground move. He realized it was an earthquake, and not merely a tremor, when he saw bricks fall from the building. “It was like watching an apocalyptic movie,” he said.
After the wing collapsed, general manager Irne Torres Castro said, doctors resorted to treating 600 patients outdoors.
“We are searching to see if there are more people,” Castro said. “We may reduce our capacity, but we are not going to close.”
Rescue operations were stalled for hours Tuesday amid safety concerns, Vanessa Jaramillo said. After she sought help on social media, volunteers arrived with two excavators and a crane, but the equipment remained unused throughout the day.
“If it were up to me, I would go in and rescue him myself, but obviously there are safety measures we have to follow,” she said. “It’s just very frustrating to feel like no one is helping.”
Yang reported from Washington. Craw reported from London. Helena Carpio in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
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