BOGOTA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Colombia's magnitude-7.4 earthquake on Aug. 10 has risen to 304, with 4,548 people injured and 426 missing, the country's disaster management agency said Tuesday.
President Abelardo de la Espriella said Monday night that about one-third of Colombia had been affected by the quake, which was centered in San Jose del Palmar, in the department of Choco.
He said preliminary estimates put direct economic losses from the earthquake at nearly 30 trillion Colombian pesos (about 9.6 billion U.S. dollars), including 24.5 trillion pesos in building damage and 5.5 trillion pesos in infrastructure damage.
"This is a preliminary figure that will be adjusted as we obtain more information," he said.
Humanitarian aid from Colombia and abroad continues to arrive in the hardest-hit areas while search and rescue teams are still working in places where people may remain trapped under rubble. (1 U.S. dollar = 3106.9 Colombian pesos) ■
