The Colombian authorities have updated this Monday the balance of the devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.4 on the Richter scale that shook the center and west of the country on August 10, raising the number of deceased to 331.
According to the latest report from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), the death toll now stands at 331, while the number of injured has been adjusted from 4,592 to 4,439 and the number of missing has increased from 234 to 240.
The earthquake has caused damage in 494 municipalities spread across 16 departments, with an estimated balance of 361,353 affected people and 185,226 families affected.
Regarding the impact on housing, 31,540 have been completely destroyed and another 178,555 show damage, while 603 buildings have collapsed and 5,884 more have been affected.
The UNGRD maintains the number of damaged health centers at 378 and raises the number of schools affected by the earthquake from 3,726 to 3,731.
The agency has insisted that all these figures remain preliminary, as they are still "being consolidated."
The reconstruction phase begins
This Monday, the president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, announced in a press conference from the department of Chocó, where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, the formal start of the reconstruction phase.
"After two weeks of pain, humanitarian attention, and tireless work, we enter a new phase: to raise what nature destroyed and to do it better, safer, and with results," stated the head of state, specifying that this same Monday "the first 480 tons of materials" intended for the works began to arrive.
During the same intervention, the president detailed that the affected families will begin to receive the "direct" economic aid announced by his government starting this Wednesday, amounting to 875,452 Colombian pesos (about 244 euros) per household for three months.
"The reconstruction has already begun and I will personally lead it, in the territory and monitoring each result," he assured, announcing that on September 7 he will return to Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, "along with the entrepreneurs who have committed to advance the Special Plan for Chocó." "This department has waited too long. It is time to begin to settle the historical debt that Colombia has with its people," he emphasized.