Jesús Rodríguez, a 40-year-old from Asturias, Spain, living in Medellín, Colombia, was preparing a bottle for his three-month-old daughter Celeste in his third-floor apartment on Monday morning when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck, the strongest to hit Colombia in a decade.
At 7:30 a.m., mobile phones began sounding an emergency alert warning that a quake was approaching. His wife, accustomed to the region's seismic activity, immediately recognized what the alert meant and urged him to leave the apartment.
Rodríguez said the ground began to shake, mirrors and picture frames started moving, and vases and glasses fell from shelves and cabinets.
A dizziness that was actually the earth
Rodríguez, who grew up in Langreo, far from seismically active zones, said his first reaction was confusion. Not used to this kind of phenomenon, he thought for a moment he was having a stroke, until he realized it was the earth that was moving.
He described the initial confusion between a health problem and a natural disaster giving way to an intense dizziness, as if the tremor originated inside his own body, until the falling objects and his wife's warning brought him back to reality. At that point, he said, all that was left to do was act.
Praying on the stairs
Belongings stopped mattering instantly, Rodríguez said. His wife and relatives living in the same apartment block, familiar with the emergency protocols, reminded him of what was essential: leave the building as quickly as possible without stopping for material things.
Carrying his daughter and a blanket to wrap her in, Rodríguez crossed the hallway and began descending the stairs. He said that as he went down the stairs he prayed to God that nothing would happen to the building until he reached the bottom.
On reaching the street, he found dozens of neighbors already gathered in open spaces. He stayed there with his family until official services confirmed the earthquake's magnitude. He said they gradually returned to their homes afterward, still fearful of aftershocks.
Damage in Medellín, Cali, Pereira and Manizales
Despite damage reported to infrastructure in Medellín, Cali, Pereira and Manizales, telecommunications held up in his area, allowing him to quickly reassure relatives in Spain. He said his anguish remained, however, when he thought of cities he had visited, such as Manizales, whose cathedral, one of the tallest towers in Latin America, was damaged.
Rodríguez arrived in Colombia two years ago, drawn by a digital nomad visa and a love story that made him a father. He said he experienced the country's strongest earthquake in a decade with the certainty that the population's preparation and the response of civil security agencies made the difference.
