Quake lays bare Choco’s neglect

Soldiers and volunteers offloading aid supplies from a helicopter in San Jose del Palmar, Colombia, a remote town close to the earthquake’s epicentre. (Right) An earthquake-damaged hotel tilting dangerously in La Ye, Colombia. — Federico Rios/The New York Times

IN Colombia’s remote Pacific region of Choco, isolation has long been a fact of life. Roads are few, electricity and healthcare are limited, and much of the population lives in poverty while armed groups control parts of the territory.

Then came the earthquake. Already one of the country’s most vulnerable areas, Choco was also the epicentre of a 7.4-magnitude quake that struck last month, killing at least 298 people across the country.