Colombia earthquake leaves Cali hospitals damaged and overwhelmed
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake in western Colombia has left major hospitals in Cali damaged and operating under severe strain. The University Hospital of the Valle Evaristo Garcia, one of the city's main public medical centres, suffered partial collapse after the quake on Monday. Health workers in the city have been forced to prioritise only the most critical patients as rescue teams continue searching for the missing.
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The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said 377 people remain missing as the crucial three-day rescue window passes. The earthquake killed at least 273 people and injured at least 3,800 others, according to the figures provided. At the hospital, a general practitioner said about half of the facility was damaged, with unstable walls and collapsed ceilings making parts of the building unsafe to enter.
The hospital is one of four major hospitals reported damaged and taken out of operation on Monday, while six clinics were also affected. City authorities said public hospitals in Cali, a city of about two million people, reached 100 percent capacity and declared a red alert for hospitals. Officials also said the city recorded at least 96 deaths, 1,224 injuries and 111 people officially missing, while around 45 buildings collapsed and 832 were damaged.
The damage to health facilities matters because it affects the ability to treat the injured during the most time-sensitive phase of a disaster response. Cali is the capital of Valle del Cauca province in Colombia's Pacific region and is one of the worst-affected areas in the earthquake. When hospitals are damaged at the same time as casualty numbers rise, local authorities must balance emergency care, structural safety and the movement of patients to other facilities.
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The situation also highlights the pressure on Colombia's disaster response system after a major seismic event in the west of the country. The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management has been coordinating the search effort, while local health officials have had to manage overflowing hospitals and damaged infrastructure. The report also said support from the national government and volunteers helped stabilise the situation in the city within less than 72 hours.
The University Hospital of the Valle Evaristo Garcia is central to that response because it is a major public medical centre serving a large urban population. With much of the building off-limits, staff said they could only treat patients needing immediate resuscitation. That restriction shows how a disaster can reduce medical capacity at the same time as demand for emergency care rises sharply.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the hospital system had stabilised as patients were discharged and new admissions fell. Even so, it said a red alert remained in place for hospitals in the city. The broader picture remains fluid, with rescue operations continuing and the number of missing people still uncertain.
What remains unclear is how many of the damaged buildings can be repaired quickly and how long hospitals will need to operate under emergency conditions. The next key developments will be the search for the missing, the assessment of structural damage and any further updates on casualties. Officials are also likely to face continuing pressure to restore medical services while keeping staff and patients safe.
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