![\"residents-and-rescue-workers-search-through-the-rubble-of-a-collapsed-building-after-an-earthquake-struck-cali-colombia-monday-aug-10-2026-ap-photosantiago-saldarriaga\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786384574_348_.jpeg\")
\n People search through the rubble of a collapsed building in Cali. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
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LAST UPDATE
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\n 26 mins ago\n <\/p>\n
AT LEAST 69 people have been confirmed dead after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, according to local officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emergency teams rushed to help victims and search for survivors in the rubble after geologists recorded the quake at a magnitude of 7.4, with an epicentre 100km deep in the San Jose del Palmar municipality.<\/p>\n
The quake, which struck at 7.34am local time (1.34pm Irish time), was also felt in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela and prompted building evacuations in the Colombian capital Bogot\u00e1.<\/p>\n
\n People search through the rubble of a collapsed building in Cali. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
News footage showed collapsed buildings across western Colombia, though officials said they did not fear a tsunami.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is critical,\u201d Mayor Mauricio Salazar of the provincial capital Pereira told Caracol Radio.<\/p>\n
The tremor killed at least 40 people in the Risaralda region.<\/p>\n
Twenty-seven people were killed in the Valle del Cauca department, and two more died in the city of Manizales, in Colombia\u2019s coffee-growing region.<\/p>\n
The quake caused a tower of Manizales\u2019 beloved cathedral to fall over.<\/p>\n
\u201cA great many buildings\u201d in the city sustained damage, said administrator Jaime Zuluaga.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraffic is paralysed and people don\u2019t want to go back to their homes for fear of an aftershock.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"debris-covers-a-car-after-an-earthquake-struck-cali-colombia-monday-aug-10-2026-ap-photosantiago-saldarriaga\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786384574_467_.jpeg\")
\n Debris covers a car in Cali. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
The governor of Colombia\u2019s Choco province wrote on X that there was serious damage in the provincial capital Quibd\u00f3, where video showed collapsed buildings.<\/p>\n
Choco was at the epicentre of the quake, and the death toll from the area was not immediately known.<\/p>\n
Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, Colombia\u2019s third-largest city, reported at least 20 buildings had collapsed and people were trapped as \u201cmajor damage\u201d that was being evaluated with drones.<\/p>\n
Colombia\u2019s Geological Service said that it was \u201cthe highest magnitude earthquake registered in Colombia in the last decade\u201d and that it had been followed by two 2.8 and 4.8 magnitude aftershocks.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Strong, really strong\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no electricity or cell phone coverage. It was strong, really strong. Things fell in my house,\u201d Martha Estrada, a 66-year-old resident of Eje Cafetero, which means coffee-growing region, told AFP.<\/p>\n
![\"residents-and-rescue-workers-search-through-the-rubble-of-a-collapsed-building-after-an-earthquake-struck-cali-colombia-monday-aug-10-2026-ap-photosantiago-saldarriaga\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786384575_534_.jpeg\")
\n Residents and workers search through the rubble of a collapsed buiding in Cali.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe quake was very, very strong,\u201d said Valeria Polo, a 29-year-old content creator in Bogot\u00e1.<\/p>\n
Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said.<\/p>\n
Bogot\u00e1 Mayor Carlos Galan said on Blu Radio that damage in the national capital appeared to be limited to cracks in the facades of houses and buildings.<\/p>\n
President Abelardo de la Espriella announced he would travel to the quake-hit region.<\/p>\n
In Bogot\u00e1 people ran out into the street in their pyjamas as emergency sirens rang out, AFP reporters saw.<\/p>\n