A delegation of four officials from the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico, who were in Cali, Colombia, for the 30th Pacific Music Festival and the Global Afrodiasporic Summit, are safe and sound after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the country. The officials, who were invited by Cali's mayor Alejandro Eder, were in the city at the time of the earthquake.
Ponce Mayor Marlese Sifre, who was scheduled to join the delegation, was in Panama at the time and her connecting flight to Colombia was canceled. The municipality has established contact with the US embassy in Bogotá and local authorities to coordinate the return of the officials to the island.
A group of 12 members from the Isabel Albizu Folkloric and Cultural School, who were scheduled to participate in the event, were still in Puerto Rico at the time of the earthquake and their trip was canceled. The earthquake has left 111 dead, 87 injured, and caused significant damage to buildings, health centers, and educational institutions.