Colombia: Earthquake leaves at least 182 dead - Press Conference | United Nations

UN's top official in Colombia spoke to reporters as a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the country leaving at least 182 dead and hundreds more injured or missing across the country's west. María José Torres Macho, UN Resident Coordinator in Colombia, briefed reporters in New York virtually saying the quake's epicenter was in Chocó, in the Pacific area, and that its impact was already being felt across a wide swath of the country. Torres Macho cautioned that the toll was likely to rise as assessments continue. “Everything that I'm reporting right now is going to be evolving as we speak. And we are constantly updating,” she said. She praised the coordination between national authorities and the UN in the response effort, “this is the first time that I see a Foreign Affairs Minister and Tom Fletcher helping the humanitarian community come together. It was a great manifestation of solidarity and response in a coordinated fashion," she said. Torres Macho said shelter, health, food security, and protection were the main areas of need, with humanitarian partners already deployed on the ground. “For instance, we have a big presence articulated in two regions, in the Chocó region as well as Valle del Cauca and Cali, with people already responding,” she said. She said search and rescue remained the immediate priority, alongside efforts to assess the scale of destruction. Torres Macho added that rural and conflict-affected areas remained a particular concern, as information from remote regions continued to lag behind that from urban centers. She said funding mechanisms were already being activated to support the response, “Tom Fletcher announced the possibility of mobilizing CERF [Central Emergency Response Fund]. We have been invited by the national authorities to complement the national response; therefore, there is a declaration of catastrophe and a response in a coordinated way. We are also operating through the Regional Humanitarian Fund of OCHA in case there are donations by the private sector, which is already happening, we have been approached by many actors from the private sector who really want to provide support through our mechanism.”


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