(Adnkronos) – Three weeks after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10, the initial phase of the emergency has concluded, but thousands of people continue to have difficulty accessing medical care, psychological support, food, and materials needed to rebuild their homes. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounces this, whose teams have identified mental health needs among the main consequences of the disaster. Three weeks after the earthquake, among the most frequent reactions are anxiety, acute stress, hypervigilance, insomnia, and persistent fear of new tremors.
Blanca Lucila, an Emberá woman originally from Medio Baudó, Chocó, stated that she was deeply shaken. “In my community, three houses completely collapsed, and the others remained unsafe. My head is out of control: I get up and feel like I’m falling,” she recounted. “People say something will happen, and we all stay inside out of fear, waiting to see what will happen.”
Although the earthquake also severely affected cities like Cali and Pereira, the main critical issues persist in areas that already faced obstacles in accessing care, poverty, and the presence of armed groups before the earthquake. In some areas of Quibdó and Medio Baudó, in Chocó, as well as in Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, where conditions were already precarious before the disaster, the earthquake further aggravated existing difficulties. MSF sent assessment and intervention teams to Valle del Cauca, Chocó, and Risaralda, prioritizing areas where needs remain most urgent and where intervention has been more limited.
After conducting assessments in about ten municipalities, MSF activated mobile clinics in Buenaventura, Quibdó, and Medio Baudó, where greater obstacles to accessing care and more limited response coverage were identified. In Medio Baudó, some indigenous communities were also affected by floods caused by the sudden rise of the Baudó River just two days after the earthquake.
“Unlike other emergencies, the effects of the earthquake in Colombia were not concentrated in a single location,” says Siham Hajaj, MSF Head of Mission in Colombia. “The impact was felt in territories that might seem close to each other but are separated by rivers and mountains, making the response more difficult. We also observed significant differences between areas with a stronger institutional presence and those historically neglected, including indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.”
