A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, triggering deadly building collapses across multiple cities and leaving rescue crews racing to reach people trapped beneath debris. At least 73 people were killed as the death toll climbed quickly, while a harrowing video captured one structure giving way during the violent shaking.
In the footage, the building buckles and crumbles as the earthquake rocks the area, prompting terrified onlookers to scream before the structure finally collapses.
Colombia’s geological service measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.4 and said it struck at a depth of 96 kilometers, or about 60 miles. The U.S. tsunami warning system reported that there was no tsunami threat.
“The Trump Administration is closely monitoring the large earthquake that struck Colombia and stands ready to support the people of Colombia and President @ABDELAESPRIELLA’s Administration,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.
Residents search through the rubble of a collapsed building after the earthquake in Cali, Colombia, on Aug. 10, 2026. (REUTERS)
Rubio also urged Americans in Colombia to stay updated through official channels, writing: “American citizens in Colombia should enroll at follow @USEmbassyBogota’s social media accounts for the latest information.”
The largest number of confirmed deaths was reported in Pereira, a city in Colombia’s coffee-growing region, where Mayor Mauricio Salazar said 18 people had been killed. In nearby Manizales, Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas said three people died.
In Buenaventura, Colombia’s main Pacific port, one person was killed after a building collapsed and trapped several others, Mayor Ligia del Carmen Cordoba said.
People remained trapped in Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, after more than two dozen structures collapsed, Mayor Alejandro Eder said. He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams to support rescue efforts.
“At this point, two people have already been rescued alive, one elderly woman and one young girl. There are more people trapped,” Eder told Blu Radio. “We have at least 12 critical points and 25 collapsed structures that we are responding to.”
Residents and emergency personnel dig through the debris of a partially collapsed building in Pereira, Colombia, on Aug. 10, 2026. (REUTERS)
The quake’s epicenter was near San Jose del Palmar, in Choco, a sparsely populated province on Colombia’s Pacific coast. Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi said there were injuries and significant damage in Quibdo, the provincial capital, and warned residents about aftershocks.
Colombia’s civil aviation authority said flights were suspended at airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura while inspectors checked for structural damage.
The country’s disaster agency said the quake, which occurred at 7:34 local time (8:34 ET), was felt in nine departments and all 32 departmental capitals, triggering evacuations and reports of damage.
Residents stand outside the Cathedral of Manizales after it was damaged by an earthquake in Manizales, Colombia, on Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/John Jairo Bonilla)
Reuters witnesses in the Venezuelan border state of Tachira and the central-western city of Barquisimeto reported the quake had been felt there. Venezuela was hit by devastating twin earthquakes in June, which killed more than 6,000 people, mostly on the coast near the capital, Caracas.
