The Colombia earthquake death toll has risen to 314 after a devastating 7.4-magnitude quake struck the country’s western region, according to figures released Wednesday by the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).

Emergency teams are still searching for 262 missing people, while the number of injured has reached 4,437. Authorities said 364 people have been rescued alive from collapsed structures.

Overall, 262,154 people have been officially registered as affected across 471 municipalities in 15 of Colombia’s 32 departments.

The earthquake struck at 7:34am on August 10 and was the strongest seismic event to hit Colombia this century. Its epicentre was located near San Jose del Palmar in the Pacific department of Choco at an intermediate depth of around 110 kilometres.

Despite the depth of the quake, severe destruction spread across Colombia’s western Coffee Axis and major urban centres, including Cali and Pereira.

At least 30,664 homes have been completely destroyed, while another 136,946 have suffered structural damage. Authorities also recorded the collapse of 302 buildings, mainly in Cali and Pereira.

The disaster has severely disrupted health, education and transport infrastructure. Damage has been reported at 3,470 schools, 4,971 community centres and 352 healthcare facilities. Several hospitals and medical centres were forced to evacuate patients because of structural concerns.

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The earthquake also damaged 449 roads, 58 vehicle bridges, 13 pedestrian bridges, 105 municipal water systems and five regional airports.

In Cali and Pereira, assessment teams have marked hundreds of unsafe buildings with red warnings reading “No Habitar”, or “Do Not Occupy”, because of the risk of further collapse.

The warnings have left thousands of residents displaced, with many sleeping in temporary shelters or makeshift camps outdoors.

The situation is particularly difficult in rural areas of Choco, Caldas and Quindio, where landslides have blocked major roads and isolated communities.

Humanitarian organisations have warned that heavy seasonal rainfall could worsen conditions. Contaminated water supplies and additional landslides are also raising health risks for displaced residents.

The scale of the destruction is expected to have a major economic impact. Economists and disaster management experts estimate that structural damage and transport disruptions could result in losses worth billions of dollars, potentially making the disaster one of Colombia’s most expensive recovery efforts in modern history.