SAN ANTONIO – Members of San Antonio’s Colombian community are nervously checking on loved ones after a powerful earthquake killed hundreds in Colombia, residents told KSAT.
ABC News reported a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in western Colombia killed at least 224 people as of Tuesday.
San Antonio has about 9,000 residents of Colombian descent, according to Neilsberg Research. KSAT spoke to some people from Colombia who came for lunch at El Punto Colombiano, a Colombian restaurant.
Edgar Pineros said he has been watching the news closely while reaching out to family.
“It is very heartbreaking … because the damages are massive,” Pineros said.
He said his relatives do not live in the hardest-hit areas — they mainly live in Bogotá, around 250 miles from the epicenter. He urged people to pray for those affected.
“They are very poor and they need assistance as soon as possible,” he said. “There are others who are still missing.”
Angelica Estupinan said she has family and friends across Colombia, including in heavily affected areas like Cali, the country’s second-most populous city. KSAT translated her interview from Spanish to English.
“It’s really distressing, and it’s sad,” she said, adding that communicating has been difficult.
The quake damaged dozens of health centers, community centers and roads, according to reports.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department announced the Trump administration would pledge $15.5 million that would go toward “emergency shelter, food, protection, and earthquake assessments,” according to ABC News.
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