7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes western Colombia, killing 47 people.
Officials reported 18 deaths in Pereira, two in Manizales, and 27 in Valle de Cauca, including Cali.
- At least 111 people were killed and 87 injured in the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026.
- The epicenter was near San José del Palmar in Chocó, about 400 km west of Bogotá, at a depth of roughly 107 km.
- Dozens of buildings collapsed across Pereira, Manizales, Cali, and Quibdó, trapping residents and damaging homes, schools, and health centers.
- President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a state of emergency and personally oversaw the government’s response.
- The UN offered support, noting extensive damage to infrastructure and warning of ongoing rescue and recovery efforts.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake tore through western Colombia on Monday, August 10, 2026, leaving at least 111 people dead, hundreds injured, and entire neighborhoods in ruins. The tremor struck at 7:34 a.m. local time, with its epicenter near the small town of San José del Palmar in the Chocó department, roughly 400 kilometers west of Bogotá. Residents from Cali to the capital felt their homes shudder, and in some cities, towers crumbled while families scrambled to pull loved ones from the dust.
A morning turned to chaos
The quake hit at a depth of about 107 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, but its energy was still enough to collapse buildings across multiple departments. In Pereira, a city in the coffee-growing region of Risaralda, local officials reported dozens of fatalities as apartment blocks and commercial buildings pancaked onto the streets below. Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city with two million residents, saw at least 19 buildings collapse, trapping people inside. Jorge Moncayo, a 64-year-old taxi driver in Cali, described watching plumes of dust rise as structures fell: “My entire house shook.
Human stories amid the rubble
Beyond the numbers are the faces of those caught in the disaster. Rescue workers and ordinary citizens alike spent Monday morning clawing through debris with bare hands, hoping to hear a cry from beneath the concrete. In some neighborhoods, neighbors formed human chains to pass buckets of rubble away from trapped families. Two people—an elderly woman and a young girl—were pulled alive from the wreckage in the early hours, offering a glimmer of hope amid the grief. In Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, Governor Nubia Córdoba reported injuries and serious damage to homes, though details remained scarce as teams struggled to reach remote areas.
Government response and regional impact
President Abelardo de la Espriella, inaugurated just days earlier, declared a state of emergency and personally took charge of the response. “You are not alone. The United Nations quickly offered support, citing at least 111 deaths, 87 injuries, and extensive damage to homes, schools, and health centers. Infrastructure took a heavy toll: 1,575 homes were damaged, 37 destroyed, 61 buildings collapsed, and 18 health centers and 52 schools suffered damage.
Though the shaking was felt as far as Bogotá and in neighboring Ecuador and Panama, those countries reported minimal damage compared to Colombia’s western cities. The disaster comes just weeks after back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela in late June, which killed more than 5,000 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings.
Small tremors, known locally as “temblores,” are common in central and western Colombia, but quakes above 6.0 magnitude are rare. The 1999 Armenia earthquake, measuring 6.2, killed more than 1,100 people and remains a haunting reference point for Colombians. Monday’s 7.4 event released far more energy, and its depth—while deep—still transmitted powerful waves through the region’s geology, toppling older and poorly reinforced structures.
What comes next
As of Monday evening, the death toll stood at 111, with 570 injured and more than 3,000 reported missing in some accounts, though figures continued to shift as rescue teams reached new areas. Authorities warned of aftershocks and urged residents to stay outside until buildings could be inspected. In the coffee-region towns and the Pacific lowlands, communities began the slow work of counting losses, burying the dead, and searching for survivors.