The earthquake that shook Colombia
On Monday, August 10, 2026, at 7:34 in the morning, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia. The epicentre was located in San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, more than 100 kilometres deep: a deep intraplate quake within the Nazca plate. That depth explains why the shaking was felt strongly across much of the country, from the Pacific coast to Bogotá and Medellín.
It is one of the most destructive earthquakes in Colombia's recent history. According to the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), in its report up to October 9, 2026, the earthquake left 335 people dead and 4,516 injured, with damage in some 500 municipalities across 16 departments.
The ground kept shaking in the weeks that followed. By August 17 alone, 332 earthquakes had been recorded after the main event, most of them small, keeping the population on alert.
The figures of the disaster
The numbers reflect the scale of a tragedy that has left its mark on the country. The figures were updated for weeks as rescue and verification work progressed; the data below come from the UNGRD.
Dead and injured. 335 people lost their lives and 4,516 were injured, according to the October 9 report. Rescue teams pulled 364 people alive from the rubble. As of that date, 103 people were still listed as missing, down from more than 300 in the first days.
People affected. As of October 9, the Single Register of Disaster Victims listed more than 486,000 people from some 304,000 families.
Material damage. More than 36,000 homes were destroyed and nearly 207,000 were damaged. Hundreds of health facilities, thousands of schools, roads, bridges and water systems were also affected. The Colombian government gave a preliminary loss estimate of around 30 trillion pesos (about 9.6 billion US dollars).
The epicentre and the affected areas
The epicentre was in Chocó, one of Colombia's poorest and most isolated departments, a region already vulnerable after decades of armed conflict and lack of investment in infrastructure. But because of the depth of the quake, the damage spread much further: the Coffee Axis, Valle del Cauca and the Pacific region suffered serious damage.
Cities with significant damage:
- Pereira (Risaralda): one of the hardest-hit cities
- Cali (Valle del Cauca): the country's third-largest city, with damaged buildings
- Manizales (Caldas): damage to landmark buildings, including one of the cathedral's towers
- Armenia (Quindío): damage to homes and buildings
- Quibdó (capital of Chocó) and Buenaventura: damage on the Pacific coast
The combination of structural poverty, vulnerable buildings and the power of the earthquake explains the extent of the disaster.
The international response
The international community responded to the earthquake. United Nations agencies, the Red Cross Movement and various NGOs supported the humanitarian response.
Aid received:
- Search and rescue teams from the United States, Israel, El Salvador and Ecuador, at the request of the Colombian government
- Tonnes of humanitarian aid sent by countries such as Mexico, Peru and El Salvador
- A financial aid package from Spain for medicines, basic kits and support for health workers
- Two million euros from the European Union for the hardest-hit communities
Citizen solidarity
The tragedy triggered a wave of solidarity in Colombia and Latin America. Ordinary people, companies, organisations and public administrations coordinated rescue work, medical care and support for those affected.
Social media became a tool for citizen organisation, with calls for donations, collection points and volunteer routes. Donors from around the world contributed to campaigns to help affected families.
How to help from Spain and Latin America
Reconstruction will take years. If you want to support the communities affected by the earthquake, here are some ways to do it:
Financial donations:
- To humanitarian organisations with a presence on the ground, such as the Colombian Red Cross
- Through official channels set up by the Colombian government
- If you want to launch your own initiative, you can create a campaign on Donation Pool
In-kind donations:
- Only when local organisations specifically request them, as money is usually faster and more effective than shipping goods from abroad
Volunteering:
- Local organisations that need support with reconstruction work
- Health professionals, engineers and architects, through organisations that coordinate their participation
Lessons for the future
The 2026 Colombia earthquake left lessons the country cannot ignore. The need to strengthen buildings in seismic zones, the importance of alert systems and the urgency of investing in prevention are conclusions experts repeat after every catastrophe of this magnitude.
Reconstruction will require years of coordinated work between government, the private sector and civil society. International solidarity will be essential, but it must be accompanied by investment in prevention to reduce the impact of future disasters.
Colombia has once again shown its resilience and unity in the face of adversity. Reconstruction will be not only of infrastructure, but also of lives and hopes.