SEARCH and rescue efforts continued today in western Colombia after a powerful earthquake struck the region, killing at least 169 people and leaving many trapped under the debris of damaged and destroyed buildings.

Monday’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake rattled Cali, Quibdo, Pereira and numerous other cities and towns. 

Around 1,600 buildings were reported to have suffered damage or collapsed completely. Soldiers, rescue workers and families picked through the rubble, removing and passing large pieces of concrete by hand down lines of volunteers.

Families posted information about missing loved ones on citizen-run websites. By Monday night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing.

Dana Carolina Zamora posted an image of her missing 60-year-old uncle Miguel Angel Zamora cradling his dog. The farmer was living in a rural area of El Cairo, not far from the epicentre of the quake in San Jose Del Palmar.

Local authorities said 80 per cent of El Cairo, a town of about 7,000 people, had been damaged. 

Ms Zamora said she worried because her uncle lived in a traditional but fragile house made of sticks and mud.

“We are afraid. We hope that is not the case, that he is all right and that it is only a communication failure. But we haven’t heard anything from him,” she said.

Choco, the region surrounding the quake’s epicentre, is one of Colombia’s poorest. Much of it is accessible only by boat, through the jungle or by air. Little was known today about the extent of the damage there.

New far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella travelled to Choco’s capital Quibdo on Monday night to assess the damage and said that he had mobilised “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond, deploying engineers, rescue workers and search dogs. 

He also announced rent subsidies for those whose homes have been damaged while they undergo repairs.

“Choco will never again be the ‘land of the forgotten’,” Mr de la Espriella said.

The disaster left many in Colombia unnerved after two back-to-back quakes hit neighbouring Venezuela in late June, destroying hundreds of buildings and killing more than 6,300 people.

Many Colombians were only beginning to grapple with the disaster’s longer-term consequences.

Monica Sanchez owns a small company that makes work uniforms. Her home city of Pereira was one of the worst hit and a wall inside the factory collapsed. 

Ms Sanchez and her 12 workers were able to get outside just in time.

“It was shocking — the city fell down around us,” she said.