A powerful earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday (August 10, 2026) bringing down buildings across several cities and leaving others trapped in the rubble, local authorities said. The 7.4 magnitude earthquake rattled Cali, Quibdo, Pereira and numerous other cities and towns.
Search and rescue efforts were under way early on Tuesday (August 11) in dozens of cities and towns in western Colombia, even as the death toll rose to 111, leaving many trapped under the debris of damaged and destroyed buildings.
Colombia’s Geological Service said Monday’s (August 10) quake was the country’s strongest recorded “in the 21st century,” and that it was followed by several aftershocks. Response to the earthquake presents the first major challenge for Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump ally who was sworn in as President over the weekend.
(Text and pictures: Agencies)
Photo:
Reuters
Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. Search teams and civilians picked through the remains of destroyed buildings in the country’s third-largest city, Cali, passing large pieces of concrete and other rubble down a long line of volunteers.
Photo:
AP
Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia. Local authorities said the death toll included at least 40 people who were killed in the Risaralda region, where Pereira is located, and 27 people in the Valle del Cauca region, where Cali is located, including three children.
Photo:
Reuters
Emergency personnel dig through debris at the site of a collapsed building as recovery efforts continue at night following an earthquake, in Cali. Residents and rescue workers were searching the rubble for survivors. The local government said that people remained trapped in a number of the city’s 380 damaged buildings.
Photo:
Reuters
Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali. The desperate scene recalled the searches still ongoing in neighboring Venezuela weeks after that country was devastated by two powerful earthquakes.
Photo:
Reuters
Rescuers move a casualty to an ambulance at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. Besides Cali, the quake ravaged cities across western Colombia, including Pereira, Quibdo and Manizales, and was felt in neighbouring Ecuador and Panama.
Photo:
Reuters
Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building, in Cali. Around 1,600 buildings were reported damaged or collapsed. The epicentre was in San Jose del Palmar, a community of about 4,800 people in the Choco region about 250 miles (400 kilometres) west of Bogota, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Photo:
Reuters
People dig through debris at the site of a collapsed building as recovery efforts continue at night following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia. Families posted information about missing loved ones on citizen-run websites.
Photo:
Reuters
Emergency personnel work at the site of a damaged building after an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia. Soldiers, rescue personnel and families picked through the rubble, removing and passing large pieces of concrete by hand down lines of volunteers.
Photo:
Reuters
Residents dig through the debris of a collapsed building in Pereira, Colombia, on August 10, 2026. By August 10th night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing. Many Colombians were only beginning to grapple with the disaster’s longer-term consequences.
Photo:
Reuters
Emergency personnel work at the site of a damaged building after an earthquake, in Cali. Local authorities said 80% of El Cairo, a town of about 7,000 people, was damaged.
Photo:
AP
Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake struck Cali. Choco, the region surrounding the quake’s epicenter, is one of the poorest and most neglected regions of Colombia, often beset by warring armed groups.
Photo:
Reuters
People distribute packs of bottled water, in Cali, Colombia. The U.S. State Department announced it would provide $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food and other aid. Governments across Latin America also lined up to help.
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AP
A rescue worker searches through the rubble, in Cali, Colombia. The earthquake presents the first major test for Abelardo de la Espriella, who was sworn in as Colombia’s leader on August 7, 2026. De la Espriella is a divisive figure because of his pledge of an all-out crackdown on criminal groups.
Photo:
Reuters
People raise their fists as they gather at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. People ran through rubble and plumes of dust, and residents said collapsed stores, residential buildings and homes lined the city.
Photo:
Reuters
Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building following, in Cali. Colombia’s Pacific region around the epicenter lies along the “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
Photo:
Sergio Acero
A gloved fist is raised to call for silence to locate victims, at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. By August 10 afternoon, people had begun reporting their loved ones missing on digital databases just as civilians did following Venezuela’s earthquakes. One database had more than 2,000 people, mostly in Cali and Pereira, with the number steadily climbing.
Photo:
Reuters
People raise their fists to call for silence to locate victims, as they gather at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali. The earthquakes left many in the Andean nation unnerved after two back-to-back quakes devastated neighbouring Venezuela in late June, destroying hundreds of buildings and killing more than 6,300 people.
Photo:
Reuters
Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building in Cali, Colombia. The Pacific, particularly the Choco region, is one of Colombia’s poorest, nestled in dense jungle. Much of Choco is only reachable by boat or plane, which may pose difficulty in assessing the wider toll.
Photo:
AP
People search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia. Little was known about the extent of the damage in Choco, a remote region where officials reported dozens of injured people and damaged buildings but few other details. Phone signals were out in many parts of the region’s capital, Quibdo.
Photo:
Reuters
A man inspects the rubble at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. Small earthquakes, known as “temblores,” are common in central and western Colombia, 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.
Published – August 11, 2026 12:47 pm IST
