7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Colombia, Killing Dozens as Buildings Collapse Across Multiple Cities

Author : dila ila | Published On : 10 Aug 2026

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia on August 10, 2026, at a depth of about 107 kilometers according to the USGS, with Colombia's own geological survey putting the depth slightly shallower at 96 kilometers. The epicenter was in the Chocó Department, about 20 kilometers from a town called San José del Palmar. More precisely, CNN reported the epicenter was roughly 280 kilometers west of Bogotá, and the quake hit at 7:34 a.m. local time.

Seismologists say it was caused by strike-slip faulting at an intermediate depth, likely along either a northeast trending left-lateral fault or a northwest trending right-lateral one.

Where it was felt

This was not a localized event. Colombia's disaster agency said the quake was felt in nine departments and all 32 departmental capitals, setting off evacuations and damage reports nationwide. It was felt strongly in Bogotá, where people evacuated buildings, and Cali also experienced shaking, along with parts of Panama and Ecuador. Bogotá's mayor, Carlos Fernando Galán, said some buildings in the capital had cracked but there were no reports of severe damage there.

How strong the shaking actually was

More than two million people were exposed to what USGS classifies as very strong shaking, a level 7 out of 10 on its intensity scale. That level of shaking typically causes considerable damage to poorly built structures and slight to moderate damage even to well-built ones. The most populated cities likely affected by this level of shaking include Zarzal, Pereira, and Armenia. Based on the modeling, USGS estimated there was roughly a one in three chance that fatalities could eventually top 1,000, given the widespread and potentially significant damage.

Casualties and damage

The death toll has been climbing quickly as reports come in. CNN initially reported at least 20 people killed in Colombia. A slightly later report put the toll at 22, with buildings collapsing in several cities and people left trapped in rubble. The most recent figure from CNN's live coverage puts the toll at at least 74 dead. Given how fast this is moving, it's worth treating any single number as a snapshot rather than a final count.

City by city, here's what's been reported:

Pereira, a city in Colombia's coffee-growing region, has the highest reported toll so far, with the mayor saying 18 people died there.
In nearby Manizales, the mayor reported three deaths.
One person died in Buenaventura, Colombia's main Pacific port, after a building collapsed and trapped several people inside.
In Cali, one of Colombia's largest cities, more than two dozen structures collapsed and people remained trapped as of the latest reports, prompting the mayor to request disaster teams from Bogotá and Medellín.
Video circulating on social media showed the moment the quake hit, including a church facade partially collapsing.
In Cali specifically, debris was seen smashing into a car following the quake.

Infrastructure and response

Colombia's civil aviation authority suspended flights at airports in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura while inspectors checked for structural damage. On the plus side, the U.S. tsunami warning system confirmed there was no tsunami threat from the quake.

Context: why Colombia is prone to this

Colombia sits at the junction of the Nazca, Caribbean, and South American tectonic plates, which makes it prone to frequent seismic activity. This isn't an isolated event for the country either. Colombia has recorded 41 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater so far in 2026, and this 7.4 magnitude quake near San José del Palmar is by far the largest of the year. For historical scale, the 1999 Armenia earthquake in the same general coffee-growing region killed over 1,000 people, which is part of why officials are taking this one so seriously and why USGS's worst-case casualty modeling is being watched closely.

I'll keep an eye out for updates if you want the latest death toll or damage assessment, since this is still very much unfolding.