Chicagoans share firsthand accounts of deadly Colombia earthquake

CHICAGO (WLS) -- As rescue crews continue searching for survivors after a deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia, Chicagoans in the country and members of Chicago's Colombian community are sharing their experiences and praying for those affected.

Officials say 132 people have died and 572 others have been injured after the earthquake struck the western part of the country Monday morning. Video from Pereira showed damaged and collapsed buildings as residents tried to make sense of the devastation left behind.

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Chicago resident Silvana Botero was visiting family in Medellín with her son, Juan Pablo Lopez, when the earthquake hit.

"I'm so scared because, you know, you don't know what's going to happen," Botero said.

Lopez said he was asleep when the shaking began.

"I thought it was a dream. I was like, wait, I was just sleeping. Then, my grandma was screaming. I was like, 'Oh, my God, I got to get up,'" Lopez said.

Botero said her thoughts immediately turned to her family and the possibility of buildings collapsing around them.

"The only thing that I did was like grabbing my grandma, looking at the buildings, and all I kept thinking like, 'Am I going to see buildings falling? Like, what's going on?'" she said.

While Medellín was spared the catastrophic damage reported in other parts of the country, former Chicago resident Tom Pardue said the earthquake was still powerful.

"It started shaking a lot. I was like, 'Oh my God, this thing could fall,'" Pardue said.

Pardue said the quake caused visible damage to his building.

"One of my walls cracked and, in the hallways, the walls cracked as well," he said.

Back in Chicago, members of the Colombian community spent the day checking on family and friends.

Walter Bohorquez, manager of his family's Mekato's Colombian Bakery on the North Side, said hearing about the earthquake immediately prompted him to call relatives in Colombia.

"When I woke up this morning, and I heard about the earthquake, the first thing that passed in my mind was calling my family," Bohorquez said.

Bohorquez said his father is currently in Colombia and felt the earthquake. While his family was not injured, he said his wife's relatives told him about widespread fear and destruction.

"They say that it's like it's like a movie. It's like a movie because you see people crying, people running. The buildings collapse," Bohorquez said.

He said his wife's family is from Cali, one of the hardest hit areas. Bohorquez said they described feeling the earthquake strongly and said many people remain afraid to return to their homes.

"My wife's family, they say that they felt very, very you know-the earthquake felt very strong. And they're afraid, afraid of going back to their houses," Bohorquez said.

Bohorquez said the images and reports coming out of Colombia have been difficult to watch.

"I just want people to pray for Colombia. I just want people to join in praying for Colombia so we can find more people alive," he said.