Rescue efforts intensify as quake devastates western Colombia towns | Earthquakes News
Powerful Earthquake Strikes Western Colombia, Leaving 132 Dead and Thousands Missing
Published on August 11, 2026
Search and rescue teams are urgently responding across western Colombia following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that has caused at least 132 fatalities and left thousands unaccounted for, according to local authorities.
The earthquake struck on Monday, affecting major cities including Cali, Quibdó, and Pereira. Preliminary reports indicate that approximately 1,600 buildings have sustained damage or collapsed. Emergency personnel, along with military forces and local residents, have joined efforts to search for survivors amid the rubble, passing debris by hand as they work against the clock.
Families are actively contributing to the search through citizen-run websites, where they have posted information about missing relatives. By Monday evening, more than 2,700 individuals were reported missing. In the town of El Cairo, located near the quake’s epicenter in San José del Palmar, local officials estimate that around 80 percent of the community, which has a population of about 7,000, has been affected. Many traditional structures, primarily built from sticks and mud, have crumbled under the force of the tremors.
President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office just days before the disaster, has mobilized the full military and police forces, dispatching engineers, rescue teams, and search dogs to the hardest-hit areas. The United States has announced a pledge of $15.5 million in emergency aid, while regional governments are also extending their support to assist one of Colombia’s most impoverished and remote regions.
