Crews from Los Angeles County are heading to Colombia as rescuers relentlessly search through debris and rubble for any survivors after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake earlier this week.
More than 200 people have been killed, thousands have been injured and at least 5,000 have been reported missing following Monday’s quake. Rescue crews have been working around the clock to find survivors.
To help with search efforts, the LA County Fire Department’s international Urban Search and Rescue technical team, known as USA-2, left Wednesday morning. The team is one of two urban search and rescue task forces in the country.
LACoFD Capt. Aaron Katon said there are 10 people on USA-2 team deployed to Colombia, including seven fire department members and three structural engineers from the Department of Public Works. He says the No. 1 resource they’re bringing to Colombia is their knowledge.
“Our team has frankly seen everything the world can throw at it over the recent years, from the earthquakes in Venezuela to Hurricane Melissa last year to again those devastating earthquakes in Turkey to the earthquakes in Haiti, and any of these members have been on all of those,” the captain said. “The expertise they bring is really second to none.”
Dr. Lucy Jones said more than 1 million people in Colombia were impacted by an tense level of sharing. This video was broadcast during the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026.
Meanwhile, locals are collecting donations, such as first aid kits, hygiene products, baby clothes and blankets, to send to Colombia.