Colombia Joins U.S.-Led Security Coalition<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to the government institution, 40,753 families were affected, 12,584 homes were destroyed and 74,873 homes were damaged. It also reported 172 collapsed buildings, 2,198 affected educational centers and 216 affected health centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the damage extends across much of the country, the departments of Valle del Cauca, Choco, Risaralda and Caldas have the most critical situations following the earthquake, whose epicenter was in San Jose del Palmar, Choco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To determine the extent of the destruction, the UNGRD established a geospatial operations center in partnership with NASA and the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, which has processed 166 high-definition satellite images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideological Biases Cloud Reception of International Aid<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe arrival of international aid is proceeding amid controversy over President Abelardo de la Espriella\u2019s criteria for authorizing the entry of foreign rescuers. He did not authorize the entry of a Mexican army brigade despite its extensive experience in search-and-rescue operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum explained that Colombia required an additional certification to allow the deployment of the military team, which is already certified and has participated in rescue operations in 98 countries. That decision contrasts with the authorization granted to rescue teams from the United States, El Salvador, Ecuador and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, on Wednesday, the world-famous Mexican rescuers known as \u201cThe Aztec Moles\u201d (Los Topos Aztecas) arrived in Cali, while their country sent 58.5 tons of food, water, medicine, and other supplies requested by Colombian authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to questions about political biases in accepting rescue teams, Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula said international aid is being accepted \u201cwithout any political or ideological consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Earthquake in Choco<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOn Thursday, Choco, where Monday\u2019s earthquake was centered, was shaken again by a magnitude 4.2 earthquake, which temporarily forced some rescue teams to halt their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The earthquake was again centered in San Jose del Palmar and was felt in the neighboring departments of Valle del Cauca and Risaralda. So far, there is no information about additional victims or collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Choco, one of Colombia\u2019s poorest departments, with longstanding infrastructure and public-service deficiencies, authorities began shifting from search-and-rescue operations to assisting victims and assessing the damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirteen deaths have been confirmed in the department, nine of them in Quibdo, the capital, where authorities declared the search phase complete. However, Ombudswoman Iris Marin warned that there is still no census to establish the actual number of people affected and their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In San Jose del Palmar, a municipality of about 5,800 residents, about 400 homes were affected and at least 20 buildings collapsed, although no fatalities have been reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Affected Regions<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca, about 700 Colombian rescuers and 50 foreign rescuers have been participating in operations focused particularly on buildings where there are still possibilities of finding survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city has also become one of the main points for receiving and distributing aid and rescue equipment, including the Mexican Topos Aztecas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Risaralda and Dosquebradas are among the hardest-hit areas in the department of Pereira. Mateca\u00f1a International Airport, the main air terminal in the Coffee Region, remains closed to commercial operations because of damage caused by the earthquake and is only receiving government, medical, search-and-rescue and humanitarian aid flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Manizales, the capital of Caldas, authorities continue to assess homes, buildings and infrastructure to determine which properties can remain occupied and which pose a risk to the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emergency, Disaster and Mourning<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOn Wednesday, De la Espriella declared an \u201ceconomic emergency,\u201d a constitutional mechanism that will allow extraordinary measures to be adopted and resources mobilized to address the damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He announced the creation of a \u201cMiracle Fund\u201d to finance the reconstruction of hospitals, educational centers, homes, roads and airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would also be used to prepare rental subsidies for those who lost their homes, assistance with utility payments, tax and financial relief, and support for affected merchants and small businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Colombia also marked the third day of national mourning that began on Tuesday in honor of the victims of the earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
teleSUR\/ JF<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSource: EFE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSource: teleSUR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Thursday, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) provided new figures on the effects of the earthquake that struck Colombia on Aug. 10, leaving 273 people dead, 3,824… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[8],"class_list":["post-12505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"authors":[{"term_id":8,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"yolaunicaquehay","display_name":"RRebeldeAdminWP","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6145d63ff95c9a0f0e53b7149804b1faf86748d6cc15f466103269a288ea377?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english","last_name":"Radio Rebelde","first_name":"WebMaster","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12507,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12505\/revisions\/12507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12505"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=12505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}