Colombia's earthquake death toll reaches 265 as search operations enter their final phase

Colombian rescue teams have moved into what officials call the final phase of search operations after an earthquake that has killed 265 people, Al Jazeera reported. President de La Espriella said the government will establish an emergency fund to rebuild hospitals and schools destroyed in the disaster.

The commitment adds to a budget that is already under strain. Colombia is a significant oil and coal exporter, and its fiscal accounts depend on commodity revenue that the government does not control. A reconstruction fund financed by new borrowing or by reallocating existing spending is the kind of obligation that rating agencies examine closely in emerging-market sovereigns, and the size and funding source of the fund have not been announced.

In Japan, the aftermath of a separate earthquake has produced a corporate liability question. The retailer Aeon is considering compensation after an explosion, likely caused by liquefied petroleum gas, killed seven of its employees following the Kumamoto quake. The company has not stated the amount or the legal basis.

The two cases illustrate the same underlying fact. Earthquakes impose costs that arrive after the shaking stops, in the form of state reconstruction obligations in one country and corporate liability in the other, and both are paid from balance sheets rather than from insurance alone.