- A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday.
- Buildings damaged, injuries reported, triggering widespread evacuations.
- Collapsed structures, trapped residents, President announced emergency response.
At least 47 people died due to a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday, damaging buildings, triggering evacuations and leaving an unspecified number of people injured, officials said.
Local officials confirmed that at least 18 people had been killed in the city of Pereira, two in the city of Manizales, and 27 people in the Valle de Cauca department, where Colombia’s third-biggest city, Cali, is located.
The epicentre was near San José del Palmar, a community of around 4,800 people in the Chocó region, about 400 kilometres west of Bogotá, according to the US Geological Survey and Colombia’s geological service. The USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 107 kilometres.
The tremor was also felt in neighbouring Ecuador.
Buildings Damaged, Residents Evacuated
Chocó Governor Nubia Córdoba said there were injuries and serious damage to buildings in Quibdó, the regional capital with a population of around 130,000. She did not provide further details.
BREAKING: A 7.4 magnitude earthquake has struck the San José del Palma region of Colombia, with the mayor of Choco stating that, “there are injuries and severe damage to buildings, and we are concerned about aftershocks” pic.twitter.com/ZkZaOtunM9
— StrandenOSINT (@StrandenOSINT) August 10, 2026
Footage shared by local media showed homes and smaller buildings collapsing in Pereira, Cali and Quibdó. In Manizales, about 300 kilometres west of Bogotá, a tower of the city’s neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed onto the nave.
In Cali, a city of around two million people, Mayor Alejandro Eder said residents were trapped in at least 19 collapsed buildings.
The earthquake also prompted evacuations in Bogotá, although the capital is located hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre.
NEW footage is circulating from a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Colombia’s Pacific region today.
The epicenter was near San José del Palmar in Chocó department, at a depth of around 96 km.
It was felt strongly across much of Colombia—including Bogotá, Medellín, and… pic.twitter.com/X03limcIts
— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 10, 2026
President Announces Emergency Response
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said on X that he would personally oversee recovery efforts and establish an emergency response centre in San José del Palmar.
Earthquakes known locally as “temblores” are common in central and western Colombia, although tremors above magnitude 6.0 are relatively rare.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake near Armenia in 1999 killed more than 1,100 people.
The latest quake follows two powerful earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in Venezuela in late June. Those earthquakes reportedly destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 5,000 people.
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