Colombia — humanitarian situation

On 10 August 2026, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia with its epicenter in San José del Palmar, Chocó Department, at 7:34 a.m. local time OCHA, IOM, IFRC. The event triggered 332 aftershocks, including 21 exceeding magnitude 3.0 and two surpassing magnitude 4.0 OCHA. The Colombian government declared a national disaster through Presidential Decree 1171 and subsequently issued Decree 1261 on 19 August, establishing an Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency to facilitate recovery and reconstruction IOM. The earthquake impacted 15 departments and 494 municipalities, affecting at least 324,157 people across 159,924 households, including members of ethnic communities OCHA. Official casualties include 319 people killed, 4,506 injured, and 260 missing (Health Cluster). The most severely affected departments are Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Chocó, and Caldas, which have been prioritized for humanitarian assistance (Health Cluster, IFRC). The disaster struck a region already experiencing significant humanitarian needs, including 7.1 million internally displaced persons — the second largest IDP population globally after Sudan — and 2.8 million refugees, predominantly from Venezuela, making Colombia the world's largest refugee-hosting country UNHCR. The earthquake caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure, including homes, schools, and health facilities across both densely populated urban centers and remote rural communities IFRC, ICRC. Educational infrastructure sustained substantial damage, with schools in conflict-affected Chocó facing prolonged recovery challenges ICRC. Terminal damage to Pereira's airport halted commercial flights, though smaller humanitarian aircraft continue operating to transport medical personnel, blood units, medicines, and specialists across the disaster zone (Direct Relief). Telecommunications infrastructure was also impacted, prompting WFP-led coordination and technical support for emergency communications, though the Logistics and Telecommunications Cluster remains informally activated ETC, WFP. The earthquake has compounded a pre-existing context marked by armed conflict, forced displacement, confinement, and access restrictions (Health Cluster). Canada has committed humanitarian assistance to scale up life-saving support for hundreds of thousands of affected people (Government of Canada). Volunteer pilots have provided critical airlift capacity to reach isolated communities cut off by infrastructure damage (Direct Relief). The European Union has deployed response resources, while IFRC has launched an Emergency Appeal operational strategy ECHO, IFRC. Humanitarian partners continue coordinating through established cluster mechanisms to address immediate needs and support government-led recovery efforts.