Earthquake response strains Colombia's new government and rescuers as
they race against the clock
[August 13, 2026]
By ASTRID SUÁREZ, MEGAN JANETSKY and MARKO ALVAREZ
PEREIRA, Colombia (AP) — Tons of aid from regional partners began to
roll into Colombia on Wednesday, as the search for survivors in the
rubble of a powerful earthquake grew more desperate after the temblor
razed buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars.
The devastation has tested Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la
Espriella, and his government as it scrambles to respond to the disaster
and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the most affected
communities.
De la Espriella said Wednesday evening that at least 265 people died in
the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the country's west on Monday.
The president said nearly 500 people were reported missing, though
civilian-run databases put that number at more than 4,100. In total,
more than 25,800 families were impacted, de la Espriella said.
“Our efforts are focused on the disappeared,” he told journalists in
Colombia's capital.
Teams continued to pick through the rubble 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 those trapped have access to food and water.
On Wednesday afternoon, Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, told
reporters that rescue teams continue to find signs of people alive under
the rubble and are racing to save them.
“The next 20 hours are the most critical to find and rescue people
alive,” he said. “Every minute is vital.”
Survival takes many forms in hard-hit areas
In Pereira, rescuers pulled Daniela Largo alive from the rubble late
Tuesday, capping a complex 12-hour rescue in which crews carved a small
opening in the debris to free her pinned arm and a doctor administered
IV fluids to stabilize her. Wrapped in a blue blanket, the young woman
was carried to an ambulance as firefighters embraced and onlookers
cheered.
Another moment was marked by mourning, as a man was pulled from a
building in the same city, lifeless and covered in a white blanket.
Across the coffee-growing region, among the areas worst affected by the
quake, authorities have converted sports arenas, schools and other
public buildings into shelters for thousands of displaced Colombians.
Ebert Jonathan Morales, a Cali resident, said his family lost everything
in the earthquake.
“My house was completely destroyed. We can’t live there," Morales said.
“It collapsed. The floor collapsed, the walls cracked. The roof came
down.”
In Pereira and Cali, families have been sleeping in parks — some fearing
aftershocks or the collapse of their damaged homes, others without homes
to return to.
Colombia’s geological service has documented 130 aftershocks since the
quake.
“We have the most important things: a roof over our heads, food, water
and, in my case, medical care,” said Edith Penagos, 48, who was staying
with her teenage son in one of the white tents set up in a Pereira park.
Rodrigo León Loya, a seismologist and geosciences professor at the
University of the Andes, said the probability of an earthquake of a
similar magnitude occurring in the same area is low but he would not
rule out more seismic activity.
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Firefighters search through rubble two days after an earthquake
struck Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago
Saldarriaga)
“Let’s remember that Colombia is full of active fault lines,” he said.
“The question isn’t whether it can happen again. The question is rather
when an earthquake of similar magnitude will occur at another of
Colombia’s seismic sources.”
Aid groups provide humanitarian relief
In many areas, including the epicenter of the quake, Choco, the official
response to the disaster has been complicated by the ongoing crises of
deep poverty and civil warfare that has created waves of forced
displacement for decades. The true impact of the earthquake in the
jungled northwest remained largely unknown because cell service has been
lost and many of the likely affected communities are remote, accessible
only by river.
“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.
Many aid organizations were already on the ground in Choco supporting a
2016 peace accord between the government and leftist rebels, and
responding to violence in the region involving other armed groups that
has persisted since then.
Those humanitarian workers were able to quickly pivot to disaster
relief, said María José Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in
Colombia.
“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.
Regional partners promise to help
At the same time, aid from other countries and nonprofits abroad
continued to roll in.
The State Department posted on its website that disaster response teams
started to arrive in Colombia on Monday. The U.S. has also offered over
$15 million in aid.
Mexico, meanwhile, said it had sent two military aircraft carrying 19.5
tons of nonperishable food and 19 members of Mexican security forces to
Pereira, and it plans to send another 39 tons of aid in the coming days.
A further 255 military specialists and 20 dogs are on standby to be sent
to Colombia if needed.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele offered to send two planes loaded with
100 tons of aid.
On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV thanked those contributing to recovery
efforts and said he is praying for those killed, injured or otherwise
affected by the earthquake.
“I want to express my solidarity with my Colombian sisters and brothers
who have suffered the effects of the recent earthquake,” he said.
___
Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia, and Janetsky reported from Mexico
City. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations,
Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Gabriela Aoun in San Diego
and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City contributed.
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