Key events<\/p>\n
As we reported earlier, world leaders including the US<\/a> and EU<\/a> have sent messages solidarity and offered support to Colombia.<\/p>\n Ecuador\u2019s president Daniel Noboa Azin also offered 47 rescuers, specialized dogs, and equipment with autonomy to operate for 7 days. \u201cWe are ready to mobilize whenever you require,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n Mexico\u2019s president Claudia Sheinbaum also wrote<\/a>: \u201cOf course, all the support that the people of Colombia may require; we\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, said<\/a> he was in communication with Colombian officials and was \u201cready to provide immediate support with our rescue teams, medical personnel, paramedics, supplies, or any other assistance that our Colombian brothers and sisters deem necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n In Europe, French president Emmanuel Macron said<\/a>: \u201cI extend, on behalf of France, my most sincere thoughts to the Colombian people. I think of the victims, their families, the injured, and all those who have been affected by this disaster. Our solidarity also goes to the rescue teams and all those who are working, with courage, to assist the affected populations. In this ordeal, Colombia can count on our friendship and our support.\u201d<\/p>\n Spanish prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez also offered<\/a> \u201caffection and solidarity with the Colombian people\u201d and said Spain \u201cstands with Colombia\u201d at this difficult time.<\/p>\n Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said<\/a> she was \u201canxiously\u201d following updates on the earthquake. \u201cIn these difficult hours, Italy stands in solidarity with the Colombian people, the affected families, and all those engaged in rescue and assistance operations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n And Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine stands in \u201cfull support\u201d and offered his condolences to those who have lost loved ones. \u201cWe call on everyone around the world who can support the affected people and countries right now to step up and help,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Colombian pop star Shakira has said her heart is with \u201ceveryone who felt this earthquake today\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn times like these, we Colombians know how to come together and support one another,\u201d she wrote on X. \u201cAll my strength and love for my homeland. Let\u2019s embrace tightly and stay tuned to the instructions so we can help as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the European Union was \u201cready to provide more support\u201d to Colombia.<\/p>\n \u201cTonight, Europe\u2019s heart is with the people of Colombia after the terrible earthquake in the Choco region. We have already mobilised Copernicus, our satellite service, to help with rescue operations,\u201d she wrote on social media.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Eyewitness: ‘People were falling and being struck by things’ Santiago Vel\u00e1zquez, an industrial advisor, was driving to his son\u2019s school in the suburbs between Pereira and Cartago, in Colombia\u2019s Risaralda province, when the quake hit.<\/p>\n All the cars had to stop because they were being thrown around as the earth shook, Vel\u00e1zquez said.<\/p>\n A car was crushed by debris after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, on Monday. Photograph: Vladimir Encima\/AP<\/p>\n He was already outside when it happened. \u201cBut people were falling and being struck by things as they tried to get out of their buildings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Traffic is totally stuck at the moment, so Vel\u00e1zquez is getting a motorbike into the centre to try and help friends and family.<\/p>\n He knows of one landslide that carried away a few houses, and he had heard reports of some five-storey buildings in the suburbs that are \u201ctotally cracked\u201d.<\/p>\n Some areas were without water, light or gas. A \u201cdisaster\u201d, Vel\u00e1zquez said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.03 EDT<\/p>\n In an address to the nation around midday (local time), president de la Espriella said his government had deployed all of its capabilities \u201cto protect lives, assist affected \u200ccommunities and deliver aid wherever it is needed\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first priority is rescuing the people trapped under the rubble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The 7.4 magnitude quake struck at a depth \u2060of 107 km (66 miles) in Choco, a sparsely populated province on Colombia\u2019s Pacific coast, but was felt in major cities nationwide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.50 EDT<\/p>\n More than 100 people dead after earthquake: Colombian president<\/p>\n Colombia\u2019s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, said the death toll from the earthquake has now reached 111, Reuters is reporting.<\/p>\n At least 87 were injured and 61 buildings collapsed, he said, noting the rescue of survivors was his priority.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>At least 82 killed after powerful earthquake hits western Colombia<\/p>\n The death toll continues to climb after a powerful earthquake hit western Colombia<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n At least 82 people have been confirmed dead, Reuters is reporting.<\/p>\n The province of Risaralda, in Colombia\u2019s coffee-growing region, has suffered the highest toll so far, with governor Juan Diego Patino reporting 42 fatalities.<\/p>\n Dozens of injuries and heavy damage to buildings were also reported in Choco, the province closest to the epicentre of the 7.4 magnitude quake.<\/p>\n Abelardo De La Espriella, who was only sworn in as president a few days ago, has declared a national state of emergency to coordinate rescue efforts.<\/p>\n Residents and emergency personnel dig through the debris of a partially collapsed building after an earthquake, in Pereira, Colombia. Photograph: ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.20 EDT<\/p>\n Colombia declares state of national disaster after 7.4 magnitude earthquake<\/p>\n In the last hour, President Abelardo De La Espriella officially declared a situation of national disaster as the preliminary death toll rose to at least 72.<\/p>\n This will allow the executive branch to bypass bureaucratic hurdles to more quickly mobilise emergency funds and reallocate state resources to the most affected regions.<\/p>\n The decision was taken as the president convened an emergency meeting at the crisis room of Colombia\u2019s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management in Bogot\u00e1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.00 EDT<\/p>\n The earthquake caused a tower of Manizales\u2019 beloved cathedral to fall over. \u201cA great many buildings\u201d in the city sustained damage, administrator Jaime Zuluaga, 50, told AFP. \u201cTraffic is paralyzed and people don\u2019t want to go back to their homes for fear of an aftershock.\u201d<\/p>\n A damaged tower of the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Nuestra Senora del Rosario after the earthquake, in Manizales, Colombia. Photograph: John Jairo Bonilla\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Colombia\u2019s president Abelardo de la Espriella, who was just sworn in on Friday, said earlier that he was heading to Bogota to convene an emergency meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cTo the Colombians who are going through difficult times today, I want to say: You are not alone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Washington is \u201cclosely monitoring the large earthquake that struck Colombia<\/a> and stands ready to support the people of Colombia,\u201d US secretary of state Marco Rubio wrote on X.<\/p>\n Israel offered its assistance, as did Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Ecuador\u2019s Daniel Noboa.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Video posted on social media shows people fleeing as a building collapses during the powerful earthquake in Pereira, Colombia<\/a>.<\/p>\n We have another update to the fast-changing death toll.<\/p>\n More than 70 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia<\/a>, collapsing and severely damaging buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira.<\/p>\n Citing government officials, the newspaper El Espectador said at least 72 people had been killed, 40 of them in Risaralda.<\/p>\n The mayor of Manizales, Jorge Eduardo Rojas Giraldo, said at least 12 buildings and 20 homes had been partially or completely or destroyed there.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n At least 69 people have been killed in the Colombia<\/a> earthquake that has trapped residents under debris of collapsed buildings and forced people to evacuate their homes.<\/p>\n The epicenter was in San Jose Del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Choc\u00f3 region about 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Bogota, according to the US Geological Survey and Colombia\u2019s counterpart. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometers). The quake also was felt in neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama, though minimal damage was reported there.<\/p>\n Local officials confirmed that at least 40 people were killed in the department of Risaralda, where the hard-hit city of Pereira is located, and 27 people in the Valle del Cauca department, where Colombia\u2019s third-biggest city, Cali, is located. Two people also died in the city of Manizales.<\/p>\n At least three of those killed in Valle del Cauca were children, the governor said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.42 EDT<\/p>\n What we know so far<\/p>\n At least 47 people have been killed, according to the latest figures from officials, and dozens of buildings have collapsed in cities across western Colombia<\/a>. The quake caused serious damage to buildings and prompted evacuations as far away as Bogota.<\/p>\n People remain trapped in Cali, one of Colombia\u2019s largest cities, \u200bafter more than two dozen structures \u200ccollapsed, mayor Alejandro Eder said. \u200c He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams \u200cto support rescue efforts.<\/p>\n Colombia\u2019s Geological Service said that it had been \u201cthe highest magnitude earthquake registered in Colombia<\/a> in the last decade\u201d and that it had been followed by two 2.8 and 4.8 magnitude aftershocks. Authorities also reported that flights were suspended in the airports of Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago y Buenaventura and Pereira.<\/p>\n Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella said in a post on X that he will personally supervise recovery efforts and install an emergency centre in San Jose del Palmar. The quake follows two back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela in late June. Those earthquakes destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 5,000 people.<\/p>\n Manizales\u2019 mayor, Jorge Eduardo Rojas Giraldo, said more than 12 buildings and 20 homes had been partially or completely destroyed in that city. He said citizens needed to be \u201ccompletely ready\u201d for aftershocks.<\/p>\n Jorge Moncayo, a 64-year-old taxi driver in Colombia\u2019s third-biggest city, Cali, said he saw plumes of dust shoot up across the city from him home in the mountains as buildings collapsed after the earthquake. Residents in the city and rescue workers were already searching the rubble of collapsed buildings Monday morning.<\/p>\n Footage shared by local media outlets showed homes and small buildings collapsing in the cities of Pereira, Cali and Quibdo. In Manizales, a city about 190 miles (300km) west of Bogota, one of the towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral collapsed and fell on the nave.<\/p>\n In Cali, a city of 2m people, mayor Alejandro Eder said that residents were trapped in at least 19 buildings that had collapsed. Small earthquakes, known as \u201ctemblores,\u201d are common in central and western Colombia<\/a>, but those above 6.0 magnitude are rare. In 1999, a 6.2 magnitude quake near the city of Armenia, killed more than 1,100 people.<\/p>\n Six airports damaged in today\u2019s earthquake in Colombia<\/a> have suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said. These airports in western Colombia serve Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura, the agency wrote on X.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More photos of the damage caused by the earthquake in Colombia\u2026<\/p>\n Residents dig through the debris of a collapsed building after an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia August 10, 2026. Photograph: Camilo Rodriguez\/ReutersResidents and emergency personnel dig through the debris of a partially collapsed building after an earthquake, in Pereira, Colombia August 10, 2026. Photograph: ReutersPeople gather in the streets after a powerful earthquake struck Colombia, killing at least 18 people and causing damage in Pereira, Colombia, on August 10, 2026. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a>47 dead and buildings collapsed after 7.4-magnitude earthquake shakes western Colombia<\/p>\n At least 47 people have been killed, according to the latest figures from officials, and dozens of buildings have collapsed in cities across western Colombia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The quake caused serious damage to buildings and prompted evacuations as far away as Bogota.<\/p>\n Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella says he will personally oversee recovery efforts. The quake was also felt in neighbouring Ecuador.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Earthquake death toll revised to 22 – officials<\/p>\n The death toll has been revised to 22, officials confirmed, after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake caused destruction in Colombia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Local mayors had already announced the death of 20 people as a result of the natural disaster.<\/p>\n In Manizales, mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas said a further person had been killed, bringing the figure to three.<\/p>\n One person has also died in Buenaventura, Colombia\u2019s main Pacific port, when a building collapsed.<\/p>\n![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Thomas_Graham.png\")
Thomas Graham<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786391431_549_1920.jpg\")
People flee as building collapses during earthquake in Colombia \u2013 videoShare<\/a>More than 70 people killed in Colombia earthquake<\/p>\n