Colombia counts $9.58 billion in losses from powerful earthquake

Economic losses from the powerful earthquake that struck Colombia last week are expected to reach 30 trillion pesos ($9.58 billion), Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella said.

De La Espriella put the estimated losses at 24.5 trillion pesos ($7.82 billion) for buildings and 5.5 trillion pesos ($1.75 billion) for infrastructure, Caliber.Az reports via Reuters.

“Just imagine the scale of the disaster,” De La Espriella said, stressing that the figures were likely to change. “This is a preliminary figure that will be adjusted as we obtain more information and as the damage caused by this earthquake is assessed in each of the regions.”

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake toppled buildings across several parts of western Colombia, including the major cities of Cali and Pereira. The disaster killed 280 people, injured more than 4,000 and left another 143 people missing.

By comparison, the earthquakes that struck neighbouring Venezuela on June 24 caused an estimated $37 billion in damage to housing and infrastructure, according to an initial assessment by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction published last month.

The earthquake marks the first major crisis faced by De La Espriella, who took office just days ago and must now oversee relief and reconstruction efforts.

By Jeyhun Aghazada