Rescue efforts continued across western Colombia on Tuesday, a day after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s coffee-growing heartland, killing at least 164 people and leaving emergency teams searching for survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
Police, soldiers and volunteers worked through the night using excavators and, in some cases, their bare hands to clear rubble and search for people who may still be alive.
People watch as a building collapses during an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia August 10, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Social Media/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. NEWS USE ONLY. VERIFICATION: Buildings, road layout, street signage, trees and businesses logos that matched archive and satellite imagery. Coordinates: 4.813325123144079, -75.68931049269551. Date verified by data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) showing that a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Columbia on August 10. Risaralda department governor informed of a strong earthquake.
The earthquake, one of the most powerful to hit Colombia in decades, reduced multistory buildings to rubble in cities including Cali and Pereira and damaged a tower of a historic cathedral in Manizales.
Cali Hospital Collapse Leaves Patients Trapped
At least 85 people were killed in Cali, a city of about 2.2 million people, where dozens of buildings were destroyed or left dangerously unstable.
Several upper floors of a hospital, including areas used for pediatric care, collapsed, trapping some patients. About 600 other patients had to receive care on a street covered in rubble, hospital director Irne Torres Castro told Caracol television.
People dig through debris at the site of a collapsed building as recovery efforts continue at night following an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Christian EscobarMora TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Carmen Yasmin Garcia, a 43-year-old Cali resident volunteering with rescue teams, said her group had freed seven people from a collapsed building on Monday, while four others and a dog remained trapped.
She said rescuers had heard scratching from the building but could no longer hear it, adding that volunteers continued to hope those trapped were alive.
Pereira Among Hardest-Hit Areas
Authorities reported 66 deaths in Pereira, the capital of Risaralda state and one of the areas to suffer the most visible destruction.
Entire residential blocks were reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel. Video posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed the city’s airport shaking violently during the earthquake, with large sections of its ceiling collapsing as people sheltered inside.
Another 13 people were killed in Choco, the rural province closest to the earthquake’s epicenter.
Emergency personnel work at the site of a damaged building after an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Christian EscobarMora TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Security Forces Deployed to Cali
President Abelardo De La Espriella, who took office only days ago, said 35 people had died in Cali and that 188 remained missing. He said 1,000 security personnel would be deployed to the city by dawn following reports of looting.
Cali and Pereira imposed curfews on Monday night.
Damaged building of a Catholic church after an earthquake, in Cali, Colombia August 10, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Marco Trujillo
“Our intention is to cooperate in any way necessary. Here, there are no distinctions or ideological divisions when it comes to defending our people or showing solidarity,” De La Espriella told reporters on Monday evening.
The disaster has drawn comparisons to a deadly 1999 earthquake that devastated the same coffee-growing region and killed more than 1,000 people. It also follows catastrophic earthquakes in neighboring Venezuela in June that killed more than 6,300 people.
