Colombia Earthquake 2026

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Aug. 10, 2026, killing 335 people, injuring 4,516 and affecting nearly 487,000 across 16 departments, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Direct Relief is supporting Colombian medical teams and responders caring for survivors and working to keep health services running.

Deaths, Damage and Health Impacts

The earthquake struck near San José del Palmar in Colombia’s Chocó department at 7:34 a.m. local time on Aug. 10, 2026, producing severe shaking across western Colombia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

As of Sept. 17, 2026, OCHA reported:

• 335 people killed, 4,516 injured and 105 missing. Rescuers pulled 356 people from the rubble.
• 486,917 people affected across 500 municipalities in 16 departments.
• 36,478 homes destroyed.
• 402 health centers affected.
• 182 water systems affected.
• 4,431 education centers and 6,094 community centers affected.

Damage to health centers and water systems compounds the crisis. Survivors need more care just as facilities are least able to provide it, and damaged water systems raise the risk of waterborne illness for families already displaced from their homes.

DIRECT RELIEF’S RESPONSE

Direct Relief is funding Colombian-led medical response as communities move from rescue toward the longer challenge of keeping healthcare running.

• In Chocó, difficult terrain and damaged roads continue to cut off affected communities. Direct Relief is supporting Patrulla Aérea Civil Colombiana, or PAC, which provides humanitarian air transport and is procuring and delivering urgently needed medical supplies. PAC has flown medical personnel, blood units, medicines, supplies and other essential resources into Condoto and other affected municipalities as needs have evolved.
• Direct Relief is also supporting Medical IMPACT, a multidisciplinary medical team from Mexico and Colombia operating mobile health services in the Eje Cafetero and Chocó. The team’s physicians, nurses and specialists in trauma, disaster medicine and psychological support are treating acute injuries and chronic conditions, providing mental-health care and supplying safe drinking water to affected communities.
• Direct Relief is coordinating with Banco de Medicamentos, a longtime Direct Relief partner in Colombia, as needs for medicines and supplies are assessed.

Together, these efforts address a central challenge of the response: medical resources only help if patients, clinicians, medicines and blood can reach one another. In remote areas, transportation and logistics are themselves part of healthcare delivery.

Direct Relief is working with Colombian health organizations to identify additional needs as assessments continue, with particular attention to:

• The functionality of affected hospitals, clinics and health services.
• Shortages of medicines, supplies and medical equipment.
• Access to blood and other critical medical resources.
• Safe drinking water where water systems were damaged.
• Transportation, power, communications and other infrastructure constraints affecting care.
• Continuity of chronic disease treatment, maternal health, primary care and other essential services.
• Needs in rural and difficult-to-reach communities.

From Emergency Response to Health-System Recovery

The healthcare consequences of a major earthquake extend well beyond the first days of trauma and rescue.

• Immediate response: The first phase centers on search and rescue, trauma and wound care, surgery, blood products, antibiotics and resources for emergency medical teams and first responders.
• Continuity of care: As damaged facilities, displacement and transportation disruptions begin affecting routine healthcare, the challenge broadens. People still need medicines for diabetes and heart disease. Maternal care must continue. Children still need routine treatment. Injured patients may require weeks or months of follow-up care.
• Recovery: Over time, needs shift toward rehabilitation, mental-health services, replacement of damaged medical equipment, restoration of clinical services and other priorities identified by Colombian healthcare organizations.

Direct Relief’s response will evolve with those needs. The objective is not simply to replace what was damaged, but to help local providers maintain and restore their ability to care for patients.

Additional medical aid, financial support and other response activities will be announced as needs, recipients and delivery plans are confirmed.

An Established Health Network in Colombia

Direct Relief’s work in Colombia began long before this earthquake.

Since 2015, Direct Relief has provided more than $27 million in medical aid to health organizations in Colombia. Over the past five years, support has included more than $7 million in medical aid and financial assistance, including $1.2 million in grants.

Recent work has supported:

• Medical outreach and access to medicines in remote and border communities.
• Medical oxygen systems at three hospitals serving a combined population of approximately 400,000 people.
• Portable ultracold freezers used to preserve yellow-fever samples transported from rural areas for testing.
• Colombian organizations providing healthcare, protective equipment and health education in communities with limited access to services.
• Emergency coordination following the 2017 Mocoa disaster.
• Delivery of 70,000 N95 respirators to PAHO Colombia during the 2023 Nevado del Ruiz volcano alert.

Those relationships give Direct Relief established channels for understanding needs, coordinating with Colombian organizations and moving resources where they are most useful.

Why Requested Aid Matters

In a disaster, more aid is not automatically better aid.

Damaged roads, airports and warehouses create severe bottlenecks, while medical products must meet clinical, regulatory and logistical requirements before they can be used safely.

Direct Relief provides medicines and medical supplies in response to verified requests from qualified healthcare organizations. The model starts with what a healthcare provider needs—not with what donated product happens to be available.

That approach helps ensure medical resources are appropriate, approved, usable and able to reach the patients they are intended to serve.

Lessons from Past Earthquakes

Past earthquake responses show how health needs—and Direct Relief’s support—expand as damage becomes clearer and local organizations identify additional priorities.

• After Nepal’s 2015 earthquakes, Direct Relief increased its initial cash commitment from $50,000 to $500,000 within days. Within six months, Direct Relief had delivered 144 tons of requested medical aid valued at $29 million to hospitals, emergency medical teams, outreach camps and Nepalese organizations caring for survivors.
• Following the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Direct Relief initially prepared more than 25 pallets of medical supplies and funded emergency healthcare and search-and-rescue organizations. By the first anniversary, the response had resulted in the delivery or pending delivery of 577 tons of medical aid valued at $133.1 million.

Across these responses, needs evolved from rescue, trauma care and emergency medical deliveries toward chronic disease treatment, maternal care, rehabilitation, mental-health services and longer-term support for affected health systems.

That experience is informing the response in Colombia: support local organizations already responding, act quickly on verified needs and remain engaged as healthcare priorities shift from emergency response to recovery.

SUPPORT COLOMBIA EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE

Donations made now allow Direct Relief to respond as new requests emerge—not only during the immediate rescue period, but throughout the weeks and months of medical care and recovery that follow.

Donations to Direct Relief’s Colombia Earthquake Response Fund support requested medical resources and emergency grants for Colombian health organizations and responders.

Direct Relief will continue reporting how those resources are used as additional activities are confirmed.