‘No one can face emergency alone’ say Colombian bishops after earthquake

Abelardo de La Espriella, Colombia’s newly-elected president, declared the earthquake a national emergency and said he ‘entrusted’ the country to ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ’.

Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to the people of Colombia expressing “intense sadness” over the earthquake which killed at least 224 people and injured hundreds more on Monday.

More than 570 people were injured, three hospitals collapsed, nearly 1,600 homes and a number of churches were damaged by the four-minute 7.4-magnitude earthquake which struck at 7:34 a.m. on 10 August. It was felt in Ecuador and Panama.

The Pope sent “heartfelt condolences” to the families of victims the following day, expressing his spiritual closeness to the Colombian people.

In a telegram signed by the Holy See’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and addressed to the president of the Colombian bishops’ conference, the Archbishop of Cartagena Francisco Javier Múnera Correa IMC, Pope Leo thanked those involved in rescue efforts and said he was praying for the people of Colombia to receive “the gifts of spiritual fortitude and Christian hope.”

The Colombian Geological Service recorded 47 subsequent aftershocks warning that more “were likely”, although none had exceeded 4.8 in magnitude.

This “painful moment reminds us that no one can face an emergency of this magnitude alone”, said a letter signed by Archbishop Múnera on behalf of the bishops’ conference.

“Colombia is called anew to see itself as one family and respond to the suffering of its brothers and sisters with generosity, responsibility and solidarity,” the letter said, pledging the bishops’ prayers, closeness and support to victims.

“May every gesture of help, every outstretched hand and shared effort be concrete sign of fraternity and hope,” continued the letter.  It was headed with the words of Psalm 46:2 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”.

Abelardo de La Espriella, Colombia’s newly-elected president, declared the earthquake a national emergency and said he “entrusted” Colombia to “Our Lord Jesus Christ”.

The epicentre of the tremor was in Chocó, in north-western Colombia, but it affected other regions. The mayors of Cali, capital of the south-western Cauca region, and Pereira, in the centre-west, imposed curfews on Monday night to curb rioters and facilitate the work of rescue teams.

Three hospitals and more than 30 buildings collapsed in Cali, trapping people inside. One seven-year-old girl among them was visiting her grandmother. The 5,000 buildings damaged in the quake included some of the best-known churches in Cali. De La Espriella’s presidential installation had taken place in the city three days earlier.

A clocktower on Colombia’s tallest cathedral, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in the city of Manizales, also collapsed during the earthquake. The basilica is 119 metres high and survived other earthquakes following its completion in 1939. It was built on the site of a previous cathedral dating from 1900, which had been constructed on the site of previous churches. 

A Mass being livestreamed in the city of Jardin in the north-eastern state of Antioquia was suspended after the priest ordered parishioners to evacuate the church during the earthquake.

Seven airports were damaged and closed. The earthquake “took place at a depth of 90-110 kilometres”, Rodrigo Alejandro León, a professor of geosciences from the University of the Andes in Bogotá, told the Spanish daily El País.

“If it had been closer to the surface, it would have caused much more harm,” he said, but warned that people should expect a series of aftershocks in the coming months. “People need to be prepared for this,” he said.

The United States pledged to give Colombia US $15.5 million in emergency aid. Mexico and Brazil also offered emergency aid, while neighbouring Venezuela – which suffered a deadly earthquake in June – volunteered to send its humanitarian aid and rescue teams.

Leo asks defeated Colombian president to work for peace amid political turmoil

Caritas reports massive relief effort for Venezuela after earthquakes

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: