Families rest Thursday in a shelter in Chico, one of Colombia's poorest departments, after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck several regions of the country three days earlier. Photo by Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EPA
Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Colombia's government declared a state of economic, social and ecological emergency to accelerate reconstruction and address the humanitarian crisis caused by Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake.
President Abelardo de la Espriella invoked the constitutional measure in response to the scale of the disaster, which has severely affected Chocó, the Coffee Region and Valle del Cauca amid fiscal pressures and limited budget resources.
Tthe death toll has risen to 273. Another 3,824 people have received medical treatment and 377 remain missing, according to a report from Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management.
Actualización de cifras 13 de agosto con corte a las 9:30 a.m.
