Colombia has declared three days of national mourning after a powerful earthquake killed more than 200 people as rescue crews race against time to find people trapped beneath the rubble.

The government said on Wednesday that flags would be lowered to half-staff at official buildings and Colombian embassies around the world “in honour of all the dead”.

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Monday’s magnitude 7.4 earthquake was the strongest to hit the country in a century. It flattened buildings and damaged roads across western Colombia. More than 100 aftershocks had been recorded by Tuesday afternoon.

The disaster is also an early test for President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office just three days before the earthquake. The first-time president came to power after a divisive election and is now facing the first major crisis of his presidency.

Government figures put the number of injured at 2,595 and the number officially missing at 195 although civilian-run databases suggested the number of people unaccounted for could be closer to 4,000.

The search for survivors has become increasingly urgent as the disaster enters its third day. Aid agencies said the first 48 to 72 hours are generally the most critical for finding people alive beneath collapsed buildings although people can survive longer if they have access to water and food.

Crews worked through the night in some of the hardest-hit cities, including Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo. In Pereira and Cali, rescuers used cranes, search dogs and heavy machinery while volunteers formed human chains to clear debris by hand.

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In Cali, entire neighbourhoods appeared flattened with piles of rubble where blocks of homes and apartment buildings once stood and cars crushed beneath concrete and fallen walls. Residents have joined firefighters in searches for survivors, digging with picks, shovels and their bare hands and stopping periodically to listen for signs of life.

But the full scale of the destruction is still unclear, particularly in rural areas where little information has been coming out.

That includes Choco near the earthquake’s epicentre and one of the poorest regions in the country. Many communities there can only be reached by boat, through the jungle or by air. The region has also long been affected by violence between armed groups, making it even harder to reach remote areas.

The earthquake has put parts of Colombia’s health system under enormous strain. Part of the Hospital Universitario del Valle in Cali collapsed, forcing doctors to move patients into a parking lot and treat some people outside.

Colombians have mobilised to help. Thousands have brought food, water and other supplies to affected neighbourhoods while long lines have formed outside blood donation centres.

De la Espriella has declared a state of emergency and promised rent subsidies for families who lost their homes.

International help has also started to arrive. The United States has announced $15.5m in emergency aid, and the State Department announced on Wednesday that following a request from de la Espriella’s government, it was deploying urban search-and-rescue technical teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County, California, to help with the search effort.

The European Union has also pledged $2.3m, while Mexico has offered hundreds of search and health workers, and El Salvador said it would send two planes carrying 100 tonnes of aid.

But for rescue crews, the immediate focus remains searching the rubble.