On 10 August 2026, a powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia near San José del Palmar in Chocó, shaking towns and cities across the country and beyond. The earthquake was felt in major urban centres including Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Bogotá, and caused severe damage across multiple departments. Early emergency efforts focused on rescuing people trapped beneath collapsed buildings, but the crisis is now entering a longer and more difficult phase: shelter, recovery and rebuilding.
The human cost is devastating. Reports from Christian Aid, Oxfam, CAFOD and SCIAF agencies indicate that hundreds of people have been killed, thousands injured and many more displaced. Homes, schools, health facilities, roads and water systems have been damaged or destroyed, leaving families without safe places to sleep, children without access to classrooms and communities struggling to reach essential services.
OXFAM, CAFOD and Christian Aid are actively coordinating efforts to support the emergency response and mobilize resources to provide timely assistance to affected populations.
OXFAM’s donation page can be found here donation page Help to strengthen OXFAM’s response capacity to this emergency.
The hardest-hit areas include parts of Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda and Caldas. These are regions where many communities were already facing poverty, displacement, weak infrastructure and limited access to public services before the earthquake struck. For people living in remote areas, damaged roads and landslides have made it even harder for aid to arrive quickly.
From rescue to recovery
In the first days after the disaster, rescue teams worked through rubble in search of survivors. Now, the urgent needs are changing. Families require safe temporary shelter, clean water, food, medical care, hygiene supplies and protection from further risks, including aftershocks, unsafe buildings and disease outbreaks. Rebuilding will take months and years, but people affected by the earthquake need help now.
The disaster also raises deeper questions about inequality and resilience. Earthquakes do not affect everyone equally. Families in poorly built housing, rural communities far from services, and people already living in poverty are often hit hardest and recover slowest. A just recovery must therefore do more than repair buildings: it must strengthen public services, protect vulnerable communities and ensure that reconstruction reaches those most often left behind.
How the public can help
People outside Colombia can play an important role by supporting CAFOD, Christian Aid, Trócaire, OXFAM and SCIAF humanitarian organisations, sharing accurate information and keeping public attention on the crisis after the headlines fade.
Colombia’s earthquake is not only a moment of tragedy; it is a call to solidarity. Communities are grieving, but they are also organising, caring for one another and beginning the long work of recovery. They should not have to do it alone. Now is the time for urgent, generous and sustained support.