A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, killing at least 111 people, damaging hundreds of buildings and leaving many trapped under debris as loved ones and rescue workers searched through rubble. In Cali, the country’s third-largest city, search teams and civilians passed large pieces of concrete and other rubble down a long line of volunteers while Álvaro López watched with his dog in his arms and said, “Our building has basically been left in ruins, and the building next to ours? Completely collapsed.”
Who Pays When the Ground Breaks
The death toll climbed across regions already marked by distance, poverty and weak access. Local authorities said at least 40 people were killed in the Risaralda region, where Pereira is located, and 27 in Valle del Cauca, where Cali is located, including three children. Authorities also confirmed nine people killed in Choco, two in the Caldas region and a 73-year-old in the Antioquia region. It was not immediately clear where the other 32 people died. That uncertainty sits at the center of the wreckage. People at the bottom are left counting bodies while officials sort through the numbers.
Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella said at least 87 people were injured and around 1,600 buildings were damaged, including at least 61 that completely collapsed. He declared an emergency to expedite funding for the quake recovery and said, “We aren’t going to leave people alone. They are in our hearts and we are going to tend to people with our full determination.” The promise came after the damage was already done. The state moved to unlock money once the disaster had already torn through homes, hospitals and streets.
Volunteers in the Rubble
Search and rescue efforts were underway early Tuesday in western Colombia after the region was rocked by the quake, which damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and left many trapped under debris. Residents in Cali searched through the rubble Monday after the earthquake struck the South American nation. Authorities said at least 20 people were killed and dozens of buildings collapsed in cities across western Colombia, and the quake trapped residents under debris, leaving more injured and forcing people to evacuate their homes as far as Bogotá.
In Cali, civilians and search teams worked side by side, passing debris down a long line of volunteers. That’s the real emergency response on the ground: ordinary people hauling concrete by hand while the official machinery catches up. Álvaro López, cradling his dog, described a building left in ruins and another completely collapsed. No polished statement from above can cover that kind of loss.
Remote Regions, Thin Signals, Slow Help
Little was known about the extent of the damage in Choco, a remote region where officials reported dozens of injured people and damaged buildings but few other details. Phone signals were out in many parts of the region’s capital, Quibdo. The town closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, San Jose del Palmar, has no airport and is located on top of a mountain ridge along a highway linking the cities of Cali and Pereira. The geography itself became another barrier, turning isolation into a second disaster.
The epicenter was in San Jose Del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Choco region about 250 miles west of Bogotá, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake was felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama. Colombia’s Geological Service said Monday’s quake was the country’s strongest recorded “in the 21st century,” and that it was followed by several aftershocks. The Pacific region around the epicenter lies along the “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
The Pacific, particularly the Choco region, is one of Colombia’s poorest, nestled in dense jungle. Much of Choco is only reachable by boat or plane, which may pose difficulty in assessing the wider toll. That’s the hierarchy of disaster laid bare: the poorest places are the hardest to reach, and the hardest to count.
In Pereira, further south in the coffee-producing mountains of Colombia, photos and videos on local media showed pieces of the airport ceiling falling onto travelers taking shelter and screaming. People ran through rubble and plumes of dust, and residents said collapsed stores, residential buildings and homes lined the city. Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar told a local radio station there were at least 15 collapsed buildings where people were feared trapped.
In nearby Manizales, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell on the nave. Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas asked residents to stay outside in case of aftershocks. Authorities said flights were suspended at the airports in Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago, Buenaventura and Pereira as they assessed damage.
Response to the earthquake presented the first major challenge for de la Espriella, a Trump ally who was sworn in as president over the weekend. A divisive figure because of his pledge of an all-out crackdown on criminal groups, de la Espriella said he had personally taken charge of the government’s response to the emergency. The state’s answer, as usual, arrived wrapped in command and control.
On Monday night, the U.S. State Department announced it would provide $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food and other earthquake response aid. Governments across Latin America also lined up to help. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they were ready to assist Colombia. Bukele said, “From El Salvador, we are in communication and ready to provide immediate support with our rescue teams, medical personnel, paramedics, supplies, or any other assistance that our Colombian brothers and sisters deem necessary.” Chilean President José Antonio Kast said Chile, one of the region’s most earthquake-prone countries, “knows the pain and the challenge left by earthquakes” and pledged help.
The aid pledges may bring shelter, food and supplies. They don’t change the fact that the people of western Colombia spent Monday and Tuesday digging through their own ruins, while the powerful announced emergency funds and took charge from above.