Pereira (Colombia).- The Colombian city of Pereira lives this Tuesday, one day after the earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that shook the country, between the search for missing persons and the anxiety over the tragedy that has already claimed the lives of at least 72 people in the capital of the Risaralda department.

After the initial emergency, aggravated by communication problems, fuel shortages, and power outages caused by the earthquake, the city awoke with a lot of movement in the streets and a major operation to rescue as many people as possible trapped under the rubble.

The 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday has left nearly 240 dead, according to the toll from various regional authorities, although the Colombian president, Abelardo de la Espriella, reported this Tuesday that the number of deceased is 181 so far.

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In Risaralda, a department located in the tourist region of the Coffee Axis, there are “around 90 deceased people,” indicated the regional Government Secretary, Israel Londoño.

Missing relatives

Maribel Verano Ramírez is desperate. She cannot find either her mother or her younger sister and has traveled to almost every place where authorities and citizens are clearing rubble to try to rescue those who are still alive and recover the bodies of those who died.

The woman begins to recite her phone number, her voice breaking, and shows the people in the areas she walks through photos of her relatives, hopeful to find them alive.

“My mom’s name is Luz Marina Ramírez Verano, my little sister is Sandra Liliana Verano Ramírez,” she says, and shares her phone number in the hope that someone will give her some information.

According to what has been found out, his mother and sister had managed to get out alive from the hotel where they lived, which collapsed due to the earthquake, but he does not know where they are nor has he been able to contact them.

“I don’t know if they are alive or not. I don’t know if they are okay,” she insists, adding that her mother “is dark-skinned, walks with a cane,” while her sister is in a wheelchair as a result of meningitis. The last time she saw them was eight days ago.

In the midst of her distress, Verano does not forget her community and asks the authorities to visit the Esperanza Galicia neighborhood: “do not forget us, please (…) Over there, there are also families whose houses were also damaged. So, please, also stop by there for a visit”.

Starting from scratch to help

While many people are focused on search and rescue efforts, others reopened their shops to start from scratch. Broken glass, objects scattered on the floor, and an arduous cleaning job awaited them so they could return to serving their customers.

In some cases, the urgency to open lies in being able to provide essential services in the face of the devastation caused by the earthquake, as is the case of a pharmacist who today was picking up everything they found on the floor in order to offer the necessary medications to attend to the emergency.

Unlike Monday, bakeries, cafes, and restaurants also opened their doors to serve, mainly, those who, in the midst of their search, do not have time to prepare a meal.

The authorities have also begun to remove debris from the city’s main avenues to normalize traffic and facilitate the mobility of the inhabitants of Pereira, who only hope that the tragedy is not greater than what they have already experienced.

In the Plaza de Bolívar, a multi-story building collapsed and its rubble reached the base of the ‘Bolívar Desnudo’, a monument to the Liberator and a symbol of Pereira, the work of the late sculptor Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt.

Meanwhile, trucks come and go to remove the debris, while some nearby streets remain closed because debris is still falling and there are buildings at risk of collapsing.