Colombia Earthquake Kills Dozens as Terrifying Videos Emerge
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A devastating Colombia Earthquake measuring magnitude 7.4 struck the western part of the country Monday morning, killing at least 47 people, collapsing buildings and leaving rescuers desperately searching for survivors trapped beneath the rubble.
The quake struck near San José del Palmar in the department of Chocó at around 7:34 a.m. local time. Colombia’s Geological Service called it the strongest earthquake recorded in the country in a decade.
The casualty count was changing rapidly throughout the day. Reuters reported an earlier official toll of 22 deaths—18 in Pereira, three in Manizales and one in Buenaventura—but later reports placed the nationwide death toll at at least 47.
Videos out of Columbia show the devastating power of the 7.4 magnitude earthquake as people gather in the streets to avoid falling debris: pic.twitter.com/33aCsJwl79
— AlphaFox (@alphafox) August 10, 2026
Images from the disaster zone showed shattered buildings, mountains of rubble and terrified residents flooding into the streets. The supplied reporting also documented collapsed structures across Cali and other western cities.
Desperate Search Under Collapsed Buildings
Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, was among the hardest-hit areas.
Mayor Alejandro Eder said emergency crews were responding to at least 25 collapsed structures and 12 critical locations, with people still trapped beneath debris. An elderly woman and a young girl had already been pulled out alive. Rescue teams from Bogotá and Medellín were being requested to reinforce local crews.
Residents joined firefighters and rescue workers in tearing through rubble by hand.
In Pereira, authorities reported particularly heavy loss of life. Manizales also suffered major structural damage, including damage to its famous neo-Gothic cathedral. The uploaded reporting describes more than 30 collapsed buildings there.
Hospitals in Cali evacuated patients into the streets as authorities inspected buildings for structural damage.
10.5 Million People Hit by Strong Shaking
The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the earthquake at magnitude 7.4 and approximately 110 kilometers beneath the surface.
Its preliminary PAGER assessment warned of a high probability of widespread damage and casualties.
Approximately 10.5 million people were estimated to have experienced strong to very strong shaking—levels VI to VII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale.
The tremor was so powerful that it was felt across Colombia and into neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela. Even buildings in Bogotá, roughly 250 miles from the epicenter, were evacuated. Reuters reported that the quake was felt across nine Colombian departments and all 32 departmental capitals.
No tsunami threat was issued.
Why the Colombia Earthquake Was So Powerful
The earthquake occurred in one of South America’s most seismically active regions.
The Nazca tectonic plate is being forced eastward beneath the South American plate. According to the USGS analysis supplied for this story, Monday’s quake likely occurred inside the sinking Nazca plate, rather than directly at the shallow boundary between the two plates.
Scientists classify such earthquakes, occurring between roughly 70 and 300 kilometers deep, as “intermediate-depth” events.
Because Monday’s rupture occurred about 100 kilometers underground, surface shaking was generally less extreme than a similarly powerful shallow earthquake would produce. But the depth also allowed seismic waves to travel across an enormous area.
The USGS estimates that a strike-slip earthquake of this magnitude can involve movement across a fault zone roughly 105 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide.
Aftershocks Could Bring More Destruction
Authorities warned residents not to rush back into damaged buildings.
The main earthquake was followed by additional tremors, including aftershocks reported around magnitude 2.8 and 4.8. Colombia’s Geological Service warned that more could follow.
That creates a dangerous situation for structures already weakened by the initial 7.4 shock.
Manizales Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas urged residents to remain outside buildings until their safety could be established.
Flights were also suspended at airports serving Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura while engineers inspected damage.
Colombia Launches Emergency Response
President Abelardo de la Espriella said he would personally oversee the emergency operation and establish a command center near San José del Palmar.
The scale of the catastrophe remained unclear Monday afternoon.
Communications were disrupted in some areas, rescue teams had yet to reach every damaged community and people remained buried beneath collapsed structures.
That means the death toll could still rise.
Colombia regularly experiences earthquakes because of its position along the tectonically volatile Pacific margin. But quakes above magnitude 7 are comparatively uncommon in the region around Monday’s epicenter.
For millions of Colombians, the Colombia Earthquake has now become a race against time: finding those still alive beneath the rubble before aftershocks make an already catastrophic disaster even worse.
