The death toll from Monday's powerful earthquake in Colombia had risen to 265, with 3,494 people injured and 496 others still missing, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said Wednesday.
The Colombian president said more than 11,000 homes were destroyed nationwide and over 53,000 people were affected by the disaster.
He declared a state of economic emergency that day to respond to the tragedy, aiming to expedite assistance to the affected residents and allocate resources for reconstruction.
The Colombian government on Wednesday declared three days of mourning for the quake victims, saying that flags would be lowered to half-staff at official buildings and Colombian embassies around the world "in honor of all the dead".
Search and rescue operations, along with damage assessments, are still underway.
According to the Colombian Geological Service, the 7.5-magnitude quake struck the country's west at 07:34 local time Monday. Its epicenter was near San Jose del Palmar in the department of Choco at a depth of 96 km.
Death toll from Colombia's quake rises to 265: president
The Chinese and Indonesian navies successfully completed a naval navigation exercise in waters east of China's Taiwan Island on Wednesday, according to Chinese military authorities.
The exercise involved the Chinese naval vessel Honghe and Indonesian Navy frigate KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai, a military statement said.
During the exercise, the two warships formed a naval formation and conducted practical drills covering maritime communications, formation maneuvers, underway replenishment, and a parting ceremony.
During the communications drill, crews from both navies practiced real-time maritime information exchange, tactical order transmission, and flag semaphore signaling.
"In this joint exercise with a foreign navy, all tactical communication brevity codes and signal flag procedures strictly followed international standards, effectively validating our maritime communication and information exchange capabilities with naval vessels of other nations,"said Gao Yongjie, an officer aboard the Chinese naval vessel Honghe.
After that, the two vessels transitioned to an underway replenishment exercise. Operating under a pre-coordinated replenishment plan, both ships executed precise maneuvering to assume their designated replenishment stations.
"At-sea replenishment places high demands on ship maneuvering and command coordination. Through this exercise, we have continuously refined the at-sea replenishment command procedures with the Indonesian naval vessel, enhancing our mutual coordination and interoperability," said Jin Xiasheng, another officer aboard the Honghe.
The exercise demonstrated the two navies' willingness and capability to conduct practical cooperation and jointly contribute to regional peace and stability, said a statement from the Chinese military.
China, Indonesia wrap up naval navigation exercise in waters east of Taiwan Island
