BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — “I just received a notification that another building collapsed.”
This is what MarCe Zerrate said as WIVB News 4 spoke to her via Zoom from Colombia. Zerrate was born in Colombia and moved to Buffalo in 2005. On Monday, she was back in Cali, Colombia, visiting her mother when tragedy struck.
“So when we started hearing the walls, like, cracked, we were like we got to get out of here,” Zerrate said.
That morning, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Colombia. Zerrate was fortunate enough to be staying in a building that was made to withstand earthquakes. Nearby, the earthquake left hundreds dead or missing and thousands injured and displaced.
“Every day there are more survivors, but sadly every day the number of people that are going to heaven gets bigger and bigger,” Zerrate said.
Zerrate said even after the earthquake was over, buildings continued to crumble throughout the week. She shared a story about a mother and child who were saved from the wreckage.
“I witnessed in one of the locations there was a mother with a child, and they were hugging, and they were able to take them out,” Zerrate said. “They were hidden in their closet.”
Zerrate has been volunteering her time to buy medical supplies and basic necessities to help medical teams and survivors. Zerrate founded a non-profit in Buffalo called Amor and Heritage. She says that people can donate to them to support relief efforts.
“Donate to my not-for-profit because then since I am here, I can go and buy what is needed at the moment and bring it to the location where [it] is needed the most,” Zerrate said.
She also says that the Colombian Red Cross has been remarkable throughout recovery and relief from the disaster and encourages people to support their efforts.
Despite the hardships people in Colombia are currently facing, Zerrate finds hope in the resilience of the community and in moments like when that mother and child were saved.
“It was such a beautiful experience to know that they found someone alive and also to see that we all as a community really came together, and we are happy to see when people are safe and reunited,” Zerrate said.
Click this link to donate to the Colombian Red Cross and head to this website to find contact information for Zerrate’s non-profit, Amor and Heritage.
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Alexa Beck is a multimedia journalist and reporter who has been with the WIVB team since 2026. See more of her work here.
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