Colombia earthquake death toll rises to 164 as urgent search operations continue

Search and rescue operations are actively underway across western Colombia following a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the region on Monday, August 10, 2026.

According to official reports, the death toll has climbed to at least 164 people, with more than 880 others injured.

As reported, more than 3,200 people remain missing as emergency responders, soldiers, and local volunteers search through the rubble of dozens of collapsed buildings.

Thousands more have been displaced from their homes following the devastating earthquake.

The quake reduced multi-story buildings to rubble in cities such as Pereira and Cali, while one of the towers of a historic cathedral in Manizales was severely damaged.

The tremor struck at an intermediate depth with its epicenter near San José del Palmar in the western department of Chocó, severely impacting cities like Pereira, Cali, Manizales, and surrounding areas in the country's coffee-growing region.

Numerous residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure networks (including multiple regional airports) have suffered catastrophic damage.

Several of the top floors of one of the city's hospitals - some dedicated to pediatric care collapsed upon themselves, leaving some patients trapped and forcing some 600 others to be tended to on a street strewn with rubble, hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television.

The city also bore some of the most visible destruction, with entire residential blocks reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel.

Clips showed the building trembling amid a strong earthquake, sending people scurrying to the streets.

Footages posted online showed the city's airport violently swaying during the quake, with large chunks of the ceiling collapsing as people sheltered.

A video of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary shaking and partially collapsing has gone viral on social media.

The cathedral, dating to the 1920s, is Colombia’s tallest cathedral and one of the highest neo-Gothic churches in the Americas.

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 declared a state of emergency, mobilizing the military, police apparatus, and specialized rescue teams to lead recovery efforts, alongside international offers of aid.