A USGS map showing a A 7.4M eathquake near San José del Palmar, Colombia on Aug. 10th, 2026.
Source: USGS
At least 111 people were killed after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia early on Monday, knocking down buildings across several cities and injuring 87 more, with still others trapped in the rubble.
The quake struck just days after Abelardo De La Espriella was sworn in as president, thrusting the new administration into its first major crisis, with memories still fresh of devastating twin earthquakes in neighboring Venezuela in June.
“The national government has all of its capabilities deployed to protect lives, assist affected communities and deliver aid wherever it is needed,” he said in a national address around midday, upon declaring a national state of emergency.
“The first priority is rescuing the people trapped under the rubble.”
The 7.4 magnitude quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, struck at a depth of 107 km (66 miles) near San Jose del Palmar, in Choco, a sparsely populated province on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, but was felt in major cities nationwide.
A police officer walks amid the debris of a damaged commercial store after the earthquake in Manizales, Colombia, on August 10, 2026.
Jonh Bonilla | Afp | Getty Images
Colombia’s civil aviation authority said flights were suspended at airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura while inspectors checked for structural damage.
The country’s disaster agency said the quake, which occurred at 7:34 local time (1234 GMT), was felt in nine departments and all 32 departmental capitals, triggering evacuations and reports of damage. Colombia’s geological service pegged the magnitude at 7.4 and said the quake struck at a depth of 96 km (60 miles). The U.S. tsunami warning system said there was no tsunami threat.
Reuters witnesses in the Venezuelan border state of Tachira and the central-western city of Barquisimeto reported the quake had been felt there. Venezuela was hit by devastating twin earthquakes in June, which killed more than 6,000 people, mostly on the coast near the capital, Caracas.