In brief
On Monday, residents of a Colombian town were caught in a 7.4‑magnitude earthquake that killed at least 132 people. The Pérez Ocampo family recorded the instant they fled their house just before it was rocked by the quake. Mother Liliana Pérez Ocampo told reporters that the shaking lasted over 30 seconds and felt more intense than the usual mild tremors of the region. All four members of the family were unharmed, with their priority confirmed: “The most important thing is life.”
A heartfelt video captured the Pérez Ocampo family as they hurried out of their home minutes before a devastating earthquake shook their town in Colombia. The 7.4‑ magnitude tremor, the strongest in the country’s 21st‑century history, caused 132 fatalities and widespread damage.
“At first, we thought it was just a mild tremor like the ones that usually happen in Colombia, but when more than 30 seconds passed and everything was shaking harder, we realised it was an earthquake,” mother of four Liliana Pérez Ocampo told the BBC World Service.
The family—two young children who were still at school—escaped safely and are currently unharmed. “In the end, material things can be replaced. The most important thing is life, and we have that,” she added.
The incident underscores the need for rapid emergency response in regions prone to seismic activity. For more on this story, visit the BBC News website.
