A second day of search and rescue efforts is underway after a massive earthquake struck western Colombia as the country’s new president faces a tough and early test of his abilities to handle a crisis.

President Abelardo de la Espriella is traveling within the areas struck by the 7.4-magnitude quake, but has yet to deliver on his promise of quake updates every two to three hours. That’s left organizations like Asocapitales, an association of capital cities, and local authorities to fill in the gaps of information on those wounded or dead.

Colombians have turned to social media to find missing people. Colombia Te Busca, a website that was previously used during devastating earthquakes that struck neighboring Venezuela in June, currently lists more than 3,600 people as missing.

The death toll rose to at least 181 people Tuesday morning, according to Asocapitales. The number is expected to continue rising as rescue teams search for survivors.

De la Espriella traveled first to Choco province, near the epicenter of the quake, on Monday, where he announced that his government will provide temporary rental subsidies to families whose homes were damaged. Immediate economic aid has already been delivered to support more than 1,400 families, he said.

The tragedy presents a challenge to the president who took office Friday during a ceremony in Cali, one of the cities hit hard by the quake. The earthquake struck Colombia’s coffee region, raising the prospect of wider economic damage. Arabica coffee futures in New York rose to a two-week high on concerns that the earthquake could disrupt supplies from the world’s second-largest producer of the premium beans.

On Tuesday, De la Espriella said he was heading to that region next. “My commitment is with each and every one of the affected families,” he said in a post on X. “We remain on the ground, working for our people.”

De la Espriella declared a state of disaster, allowing him to speed up relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. Some lawmakers have pushed him to declare an economic emergency, a broader declaration that would let him issue decrees related to the crisis without the need for congressional approval.

The conservative leader had pledged to slash public spending in an effort to curb Colombia’s growing budget deficits, while also decentralizing power by governing outside the capital of Bogota. Now he must contend with the challenge of costly relief efforts and rebuilding. Thousands of homes and buildings have been damaged in multiple cities, airport operations were disrupted and highways have been shut down as a result of the quake.

“Recovering from earthquakes is difficult, and De la Espriella has no experience in governance,” James Bosworth, author of the Latin America Risk Report, wrote on Tuesday. “He is fortunate that Colombia has a professional civil service capable of assisting, but the public will blame any errors on the person at the top.”

De la Espriella, however, continues to express confidence, saying Monday that his government has the necessary resources and funding to respond to the tragedy. “Centralism abandoned this region to its fate for many years,” he said in Choco, vowing to address “an enormous historical debt” owed to the region. “Anyone might think that debt is impossible to repay, but I am used to being told that things cannot be done. I make the impossible possible.”

Cali’s international airport resumed operations late Monday, Colombia’s aviation authority said on social media.

The U.S. State Department announced Monday that it would send $15.5 million to Colombia for emergency shelter, food, protection, and earthquake assessments. Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and other foreign leaders also pledged to help in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

—With assistance from Mie Dahl and Vivien Ngo.

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