Earthquake response strains Colombia's new government and rescuers as
they race against the clock
[August 12, 2026]
By ASTRID SUÁREZ, MEGAN JANETSKY and MARKO ALVAREZ
PEREIRA, Colombia (AP) — The search for life in the rubble of Colombia’s
powerful earthquake grew more desperate on Wednesday as search teams
pushed up against a key time threshold to locate survivors with signs of
life.
The devastation has tested Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la
Espriella and his government as it scrambles to respond to the natural
disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the vulnerable
communities most affected by the quake.
By Tuesday, de la Espriella said the 7.4 magnitude earthquake had killed
at least 181 people and left 2,595 more injured in the west of the
country. He said at least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run
databases put that number closer to 4,000.
Teams continued to pick through the rubble overnight in the hardest-hit
cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo, as time ticked away for
victims to be found — and rescued — alive.
Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours crucial for retrieving
survivors, though that threshold can be extended if they have access to
food and water.
Small successes have broken through the flattened buildings: rescuers
pulling a dust-covered baby through a crack in a concrete wall and
onlookers cheering as teams lift a woman onto a stretcher.
In many areas, the official response to the devastation has been
complicated by the ongoing crises of deep poverty and civil warfare that
has forced displacement for decades.
“This earthquake compounds an already severe humanitarian situation, and
there is a need for increased support for the humanitarian response,”
said Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee
Council.
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Volunteers and rescue workers use buckets to remove debris of a
collapsed building a day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia,
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
A 2016 peace accord between rebels and the government along with an
ongoing armed conflict may allow aid organizations to distribute
food and other emergency materials more quickly, said María José
Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia. Aid organizations
are already in place in some conflict-torn centers because of the
peace process, including Choco at the epicenter of the quake.
“We have a presence on the ground. Therefore, our ability to be
there, present with the people, I think, has increased
exponentially,” Torres said in a statement Tuesday.
At the same time, aid from other countries and nonprofits abroad
continued to roll in.
The U.S. has offered over $15 million in aid and Mexico’s president
said she is prepared to send hundreds of search and health workers,
tons of health supplies and other equipment.
On Tuesday afternoon, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his
country would send two planes loaded with 100 tons of aid in the
coming days.
“Our prayers are with the families of the victims, the wounded and
all the Colombian people,” Bukele wrote on X.
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Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia, and Janetsky reported from
Mexico City. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United
Nations and Manuel Rueda in Bogota contributed.
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