The number of fatalities following Monday’s powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia has climbed to 281, with an additional 3,971 individuals injured and 379 reported missing, according to an update issued by the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management on Thursday.

Disaster officials reported that the catastrophic tremor has impacted 44,936 families, encompassing 102,105 residents across 426 municipalities spread over 15 departments.

Physical destruction remains extensive, with the agency confirming that 10,677 residences were completely destroyed while another 65,841 suffered varying degrees of damage.

Emergency teams and volunteers continue to carry out intensive search and rescue operations through the debris of collapsed structures in affected areas, including the city of Cali.

Data from the Colombian Geological Service indicates that the powerful seismic event struck western Colombia at 7:34 am local time (1234 GMT) on Monday.

The earthquake's epicenter was located at a depth of 96 kilometers near the municipality of San Jose del Palmar within the department of Choco.

Source: Xinhua