Colombia races to find survivors after deadly earthquake
Colombia races to find survivors after deadly earthquake
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Aug 10, 2026, tore through western Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland, killing at least 224 people. The death toll is expected to rise.
In cities such as Pereira and Cali, multi-storey buildings were reduced to rubble. In Manizales, the quake cracked apart a tower of a historic cathedral.
Emergency workers, police, soldiers and volunteers searched through the night, using excavators and sometimes their bare hands to hunt for survivors beneath the debris.
In Cali, parts of a hospital collapsed, trapping some patients. Around 600 others had to be treated on a rubble-strewn street outside.
Entire residential blocks in Pereira were reduced to piles of concrete and twisted steel.
