The death toll from the earthquake that struck western Colombia keeps climbing. President Abelardo De La Espriella announced Wednesday that the number of dead now stands at 265, while 496 people remain officially listed as missing, a figure some citizen run databases put above 4,100. Around 25,800 families have been affected by the disaster.
The earthquake, a magnitude 7.4, struck on Monday, August 10, 2026, at 7:34 in the morning, with an epicenter located near San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó. It is the most powerful earthquake Colombia has experienced in a century. Since then, more than 130 aftershocks have been recorded, keeping fear alive and complicating rescue operations.
The hardest hit cities are Pereira, with around a hundred deaths, and Cali, with close to 95, though the damage also extends to Manizales, Quibdo, and more broadly to the departments of Valle del Cauca, Risaralda and Caldas. In the coffee growing region, collapsed buildings, buckled roads and crushed vehicles bear witness to the force of the quake. The material toll is heavy: more than 8,350 homes damaged, 48 buildings collapsed, 807 schools affected, 85 health centers damaged, 74 roads damaged, 16 water systems disrupted, and one airport runway out of service. In Chocó, isolated communities cut off from phone networks and reachable only by river remain hard to access, which has made it difficult to get a precise count of the damage and the victims.
Rescue teams worked urgently through the first seventy two hours after the disaster, the period considered most critical for finding survivors under the rubble. That window has now passed, and authorities are focusing their efforts on the search for those still missing. President De La Espriella, whose recently formed government is facing its first major crisis, declared three days of national mourning and said « all efforts are now focused on the missing. » Public buildings have been converted into shelters to house displaced residents.
International solidarity has moved quickly. The United States has mobilized more than $15 million along with specialized rescue teams, including ones from Virginia and California. Mexico sent its Los Topos rescue brigade along with 19.5 tons of food, with nearly 40 additional tons planned, while El Salvador offered two aircraft carrying 100 tons of aid. The Red Cross launched a $30 million emergency appeal, and Pope Leo XIV expressed his solidarity with the Colombian people.