Rescuers race to find Colombia earthquake survivors as death toll rises

▶ Watch Video: Search for survivors after powerful earthquake in Colombia

Rescue workers and volunteers rushed to clear rubble as they searched for survivors in Colombia early Tuesday after the country was struck by its strongest earthquake on record.

At least 169 people died and more than 600 were injured in the earthquake, according to a tally released Tuesday by the Association of Mayors.  

By Monday night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing. Many families posted information about loved ones online, hoping for information about their fate.

The 7.4-magnitude quake struck cities across Colombia’s western region shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time Monday, sending panicked residents onto the streets.

The city of Pereira, one of the hardest hit, was plunged into darkness Monday evening as volunteers combed through the remains of collapsed buildings searching for survivors.

“We’re without power. This seems honestly like a zombie city,” resident Juan David Gaitan told French news agency AFP.

At the airport in Pereira, videos showed pieces of ceiling falling down on travelers taking shelter and screaming, and people running through rubble in a panic. 

The country’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who had been on the job for only three days, declared a state of emergency and vowed a concerted rescue effort.

Around 1,600 buildings across the country were reported damaged or collapsed, with rescue workers and volunteers seen clearing rubble by hand in some places. The mayors association said 165 structures collapsed.

The Vatican said Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV is “deeply saddened” by the earthquake.

“The Holy Father, deeply saddened to learn the painful news of the earthquake that has seriously affected several areas of Colombia … offers prayers for the eternal rest of the deceased and raises his prayers to the Lord for the prompt recovery of those affected by this tragedy,” the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, wrote in a note to the archbishop of Cartagena, Francisco Javier Munera Correa. 

Dana Carolina Zamora posted an image of her missing 60-year-old uncle, Miguel Ángel Zamora, cradling his dog. The farmer was living in a rural area of El Cairo, not far from the quake’s epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar.

“We are afraid. We hope that is not the case, that he is all right and that it is only a communication failure. But we haven’t heard anything from him,” Zamora said.

De la Espriella announced Monday night that he had mobilized “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond to the temblor.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post on Monday that the Trump administration was closely monitoring the earthquake response and “stands ready to support the people of Colombia.”

South Florida organizations are among U.S.-based humanitarian groups mobilizing to send aid to Colombia. 

“There’s a lot of damage, and we are waiting for information as to what the needs are. The first is rescue and recovery,” Fabio Andrade, a Weston city commissioner and a Colombian American, told CBS News Miami.