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Earthquake response strains Colombia's new government and rescuers
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"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.
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.
At the same time, aid from other countries and nonprofits abroad continued to roll in.
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Earthquake response strains Colombia's new government and rescuers The earthquake killed at least 181 people and left 2,595 injured, according to Colombian authorities.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Colombia's new government and rescuers race against the clock to find survivors At least 265 people died in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the country's west on Monday.
− At least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run databases put that number closer to 4,000.
+ The devastation has tested Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella.
− The Americas Earthquake response strains Colombia's new government and rescuers August 12, 20261:13 AM ET By
The Associated Press
Rescue workers carry Diana Troncoso after pulling her from the rubble the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug.
+ The Americas Colombia's new government and rescuers race against the clock to find survivors Updated August 13, 20261:44 AM ET Originally published August 12, 20261:13 AM ET By
The Associated Press
A Mexican rescue worker searches through the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug.
− 11, 2026.
+ 12, 2026.
− Ivan Valencia/AP hide caption
PEREIRA, Colombia — 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.
+ Santiago Saldarriaga/AP hide caption
PEREIRA, Colombia — 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 natural disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the vulnerable communities most affected by the quake.
+ 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.
− 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.
+ 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.
− He said at least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run databases put that number closer to 4,000.
+ 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.
− 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.
+ "Our efforts are focused on the disappeared," he told journalists in Colombia's capital.
− 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.
+ 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.
− 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.
+ 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.
− Patients from a clinic evacuated due to earthquake damage lie in beds at a temporary facility set up in a gymnasium at a nearby school in Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug.
+ "The next 20 hours are the most critical to find and rescue people alive," he said.
− 11, 2026.
+ "Every minute is vital."
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.
− Santiago Saldarriaga/AP hide caption
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.
+ 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.
Volunteers sort aid for people affected by the earthquake in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Santiago Saldarriaga/AP hide caption
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.
"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."
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.
− 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.
+ 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.
− Aid organizations are already in place in some conflict-torn centers because of the peace process, including Choco at the epicenter of the quake.
+ The State Department posted on its website that disaster response teams started to arrive in Colombia on Monday.
− 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.
+ has also offered over $15 million in aid.
− On Tuesday afternoon, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his country would send two planes loaded with 100 tons of aid in the coming days.
+ 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.
− "Our prayers are with the families of the victims, the wounded and all the Colombian people," Bukele wrote on X.
+ 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.