7.4-magnitude earthquake hits Colombia, causing significant damage and injuries

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:11, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 15:29, 10 August 2026 An earthquake on Monday caused injuries and significant damage in a province on Colombia's Pacific Coast as well as the city of Pereira, provincial governors said, after the tremor was felt in the capital Bogota and as far away as Venezuela. Colombia's geological service said the magnitude of the quake, which struck at 7.30am local time (1.30pm UK time), was 7.4 and that its depth was 60 miles. The US tsunami warning system said there was no tsunami warning.   Both reported the epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar, a community about 250 miles west of Colombia's capital, Bogota The mayor of Cali, a city of 2.3million people in Colombia's west, said at least 20 buildings had collapsed following the earthquake.  Hospitals in the city were forced to evacuate their patients. Rows of elderly people on hospital beds were seen outside.  The quake was felt in Ecuador and as far away as Panama to the north, and prompted building evacuations in Bogota.  Choco governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi said on X: 'We have just experienced a major earthquake in the department of Choco. We are concerned about aftershocks.  'Although the epicenter was near San Jose del Palmar, there are injuries and significant damage to buildings in the capital, Quibdo. We are already carrying out a damage assessment and will issue the first official report shortly.' Patients are evacuated outside a hospital after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, on August 10, 2026. Vehicles damaged by a collapsed wall are seen following an earthquake in Cali, Colombia,  August 10 2026 People run out of the hospital building during an earthquake in Cali, Colombia, on August 10, 2026 The governor of neighbouring Risaralda province, Juan Diego Patino, told local Blu Radio there was 'serious damage to some buildings' in Pereira, the provincial capital. 'What has just occurred is very severe. The images are truly shocking, with people injured and building facades collapsed,' he said.  Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said it was in contact with local authorities to verify potential damage.  Bogota's mayor, Carlos Galan, said on X there was no major damage in the capital. Reuters witnesses in the Venezuelan border state of Tachira and the central-western city of Barquisimeto reported the quake had been felt there.  Following the quake UAEAC, the country's aviation authority, said flights from six airports had been suspended.  UAEAC said damage was reported at the airports of Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura.  Venezuela was hit by devastating twin earthquakes in June, which killed more than 6,000 people, mostly on the coast near the capital, Caracas. Earthquakes are common in Colombia due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a tectonic belt where the Earth's plates meet.  Colombia's geological service said the magnitude of the quake, which struck at 7.30am local time (1.30pm UK time), was 7.4 and that its depth was 60 miles Vehicles damaged by a collapsed wall are seen following an earthquake in Cali, Colombia, August 10 2026 About 90 per cent of the world's largest earthquakes occur within the belt.   The southeastern and easternmost areas of Colombia are not as seismically active as the rest of the country. Colombia's most devastating earthquake happened in August 1868, off the coast of Equador, and killed about 70,000 people.