Buenaventura residents criticise state neglect after Colombia’s earthquake

Buenaventura, Colombia – Lorena Hipis sits in her living room, gazing emptily into the kitchen. The harsh midday sun beats down on her.

The walls have been shaved off one side of her house, and a gaping hole punctures what used to be the roof.

"The whole thing came crashing down," said Hipis, gesturing to the wreckage of a five-storey building next door.

It collapsed during the 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday, destroying half of her home and flattening her mother's house nearby. Four people inside died.

Hipis lives in Buenaventura, a city of 432,000 on Colombia’s Pacific coast that suffered widespread destruction.

Though her city is home to the country's largest port, she fears it will be overlooked in the broader recovery effort.

"The municipality, the state and the government haven't come here," she said on Thursday.

In her daughter’s bedroom, metal rebar hangs from the ceiling, while jagged chunks of concrete and brick threaten to tumble to the floor at any moment.