Colombia's Deadliest Earthquake in Decades Kills Over 160 as Rescuers Race Against Time

A Nation in Crisis

Rescue efforts across western Colombia carried into a second day on Tuesday as emergency workers dug through collapsed buildings and flattened homes — with the death toll from the country's most powerful earthquake in decades now standing at least 164 people and expected to climb. The magnitude 7.4 earthquake partially collapsed the passenger terminal at Matecaña International Airport in Pereira, injured residents across at least five cities, and triggered a USGS Orange Alert — the agency's second-highest warning level, signaling significant casualties and widespread damage.

The quake struck at 7:34 a.m. local time on August 10, 2026, with its epicenter near San José del Palmar in Chocó Department, approximately 174 miles west of the capital, Bogotá. It struck at a depth of 107 kilometers, and at least 21 aftershocks followed within hours. The quake was also felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama, though minimal damage was reported there.

Widespread Destruction Across Cities

The worst-hit cities include Pereira, Cali, Quibdó, Manizales, and Armenia, all of which remain under "red alert" — the nation's highest-level disaster threat level. In Cali, home to about 2.2 million people, at least 85 people were killed, and dozens of buildings were left leaning precariously or destroyed outright, forcing residents into the streets. Pereira alone recorded at least 60 deaths.

Several of the top floors of one of Cali's hospitals — some dedicated to pediatric care — collapsed upon themselves, leaving some patients trapped and forcing some 600 others to be tended to on a street strewn with rubble. The quake also cracked apart one of the towers of a historic cathedral in the city of Manizales. Across the country, at least 87 people were injured, 61 buildings collapsed, and 1,575 homes were damaged. Hospitals in five Colombian cities were put on red alert, and at least six local airports suspended operations.

A Region Ill-Equipped for Disaster

The epicenter sits in Chocó, Colombia's poorest department, where more than two-thirds of the population live in poverty. Much of the region is accessible only by air or water because it has few roads. The quake struck shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Monday, sending panicked residents onto the streets. "People ran out naked, people jumped from the second floor of their homes," said Wilmer Cuesta, a law student in Quibdó.

Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella — who had only taken office on Friday — declared a state of national disaster, which will help mobilize extra resources to the most affected regions. Emergency teams aided by police, soldiers, and volunteers worked through the night with excavators and, at times, their bare hands, hunting for survivors beneath the debris. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was closely monitoring the earthquake and "stands ready to support the people of Colombia."

A Seismically Scarred Region Braces for More

The disaster arrives less than seven weeks after back-to-back earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 killed more than 6,000 people in Venezuela, reinforcing the Pacific Ring of Fire's punishing rhythm along South America's northwestern coast. Both events sit along the same subduction boundary where the Nazca Plate dives beneath the South American Plate — the same tectonic engine that produced the 1906 Colombia-Ecuador earthquake at an estimated magnitude 8.8.

The disaster has drawn comparisons to a deadly 1999 earthquake that devastated the same coffee-growing region, killing more than 1,000 people. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, there is no tsunami threat because the earthquake occurred too deep inside the Earth — a small mercy in an otherwise devastating event. With hundreds still reported missing and rescue teams racing against time, authorities warn the death toll will almost certainly rise before the full scope of the catastrophe is known.