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The disaster response, however, is entering a new phase as rescue teams wind down operations and aid organisations begin focusing on housing those made homeless by the earthquake and providing basic necessities.
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While official data reveals vast destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses, the full scale of the devastation continues to be assessed.
Fifteen of Colombia’s 32 provinces were affected by the earthquake, which killed at least 289 people and injured 4,187.
The earthquake struck San Jose del Palmar, a rural town in Colombia’s Pacific region, and devastated swaths of nearby cities like Pereira, Quibdo, and Cali.
In total, 127,557 homes were damaged, and were 26,945 destroyed. The disaster also devastated other institutions, including 285 health centres and 2,838 educational facilities.
Economic infrastructure sustained significant damage, with 407 roads, 92 water supply systems, 44 vehicular bridges, and five airports affected.
In the past week, emergency response teams have carried out an unrelenting rescue effort that has saved 354 lives.
As of Sunday night, 143 people remain unaccounted for, according to government figures, though an unofficial online database called Colombia Te Busca (Colombia is looking for you) puts the number of missing at more than 3,000.
He added that the chances of finding life under the rubble have dropped significantly, and response teams’ priorities are shifting towards a medium-term emergency.
In some places, such as the seven-storey Vanessa Building in Cali, efforts to find survivors have been paused altogether.
While the chances of finding life under the rubble drop sharply after the first 72 hours following an earthquake, others still hope.
In recent days, he said, local rescue efforts have been boosted by international teams from countries like Israel, the United States, and Mexico.
With more than 120,000 families affected by the earthquake, authorities are under pressure to shelter the homeless.
In cities like Cali and Pereira, local authorities have converted spaces such as sports stadiums and community centres into temporary shelters.
Veronica Echeverry, who oversees a shelter at a community hall in Cali, said that they have received help from citizens, hospitals, and local authorities.
The refuge doubles as an aid collection point, receiving and distributing donations of food, water, hygiene supplies and clothes.
But she also noted that few of those who have lost their homes have needed to go to shelters, largely because they come from wealthier areas and can depend on family and friends for housing.
Today, only two people are staying at the shelter, which has 11 beds.
While demand for shelter is limited in major cities like Cali and Pereira, Echeverry said other areas desperately need assistance.
In places like Choco – Colombia’s poorest department – the earthquake has hit especially hard due to existing challenges.
Choco was not only the epicentre of the earthquake; it is also a hotbed for armed conflict, drug trafficking and illegal gold mining.
Cities like Quibdo, the provincial capital, are a hub for people displaced by violence. In the city of roughly 130,000 people, some 2,723 homes were damaged, 1,337 of which are now uninhabitable.
But residents say the government has been slow to act.
Meanwhile, the situation in the wider province, much of which is only accessible by river, remains unclear.
The earthquake has also unleashed vast economic destruction in Colombia.
Sixty-five-year-old Nestor Martinez has owned a bicycle shop in Buenaventura for 25 years. But the earthquake ravaged his store, wrecking its awning, toppling walls, and crushing merchandise.
Martinez has spent the last week cleaning up the debris and conducting an audit of the damage.
Martinez is one of hundreds of thousands who will need support from the government to rebuild their lives.
The earthquake represents the first major test for the leader, who was inaugurated just three days before it struck. He has faced criticism for abstaining from a handover process with the previous government, muddying the disaster response, and for politicising aid by saying he would only accept rescue teams from Israel, El Salvador, and the US – countries ideologically aligned with his government.
Although the country is beginning to turn to the long-term consequences of the disaster, emergency responders continue the arduous labour of digging through the rubble.
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Informação baseada em material público de Al Jazeera, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.
