Since a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia two weeks ago, the country has been focused on recovery efforts, and it’s still assessing the damage.
The quake hit at 7:34 a.m. on August 10, centered near San José del Palmar in the Pacific department of Chocó at a depth of roughly 68 miles. It was the most powerful seismic event recorded in Colombia this century, felt across the country and in Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela.
As of August 19, the World Food Programme Colombia reported 314 dead, 4,437 injured, and 262 people still missing. More than 262,000 people have been registered as affected across 471 municipalities in 15 of Colombia’s 32 departments. Some 30,664 homes were destroyed and another 136,946 damaged; 302 buildings collapsed, most of them in the cities of Cali and Pereira, where assessment teams have been marking unsafe structures in red paint reading No Habitar (do not occupy). More than 350 health facilities sustained damage, including a wing of Cali’s Hospital Universitario del Valle.
The epicenter sits in one of Colombia’s poorest and least accessible regions, much of it reachable only by boat or plane. But the heaviest visible destruction landed in the Eje Cafetero, the coffee-growing highlands that draw travelers to Salento, Filandia, and the Cocora Valley.
“Damaged infrastructure makes it difficult to reach those in need, particularly in rural areas near Chocó,” says Jacob Meeks, a security manager at International SOS, a global medical and security risk management firm. Roads there were poor before the quake, he notes, and repairing them doesn’t resolve the security concerns that predated the disaster.
More than 160 aftershocks have been recorded, and heavy rain on unstable terrain can trigger landslides that create new obstacles.
How travel has been affected
Bogotá, Cartagena, and Medellín were largely not damaged and are operating normally.
Matecaña International Airport in Pereira, which suffered partial structural collapse, remains closed to commercial flights. Airports in Cali, Manizales, Armenia, Quibdó, Cartago, and Buenaventura have reopened, several with limited capacity. Guillermo León Valencia Airport in Popayán is closed for an unrelated reason, which is ash from the Puracé volcano.
Roads, tunnels, and bridges across the impacted region remain badly damaged. Colombia’s national roads institute, Invias, runs a 24/7 hotline (601-427-9500) and a route-checking tool at hermes2.invias.gov.co/SIV.
Travel to Bogotá or Cartagena, Meeks says, is no riskier than it was before, though travelers may find longer lines and thinner staffing as resources shift toward recovery. His advice is to defer nonessential trips to the coffee region.
Pure! Colombia, a Bogotá-based tour operator, said in a statement that its staff is safe and operational, but that some of its suppliers in the Salento area have lost their homes. The company is contacting clients with itineraries through Cali, Pereira, Manizales, or the Eje Cafetero.
How to help
Before giving, Meeks recommends checking an organization’s registration and its rating on a service like Charity Navigator, then asking a harder question: Does it work with a local partner, and can it say exactly what it’s delivering? Vague descriptions of where money goes, no established presence before the disaster, and requests for payment by wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or gift card are all reasons to look elsewhere.
These groups are working in the affected region now:
Colombian Red Cross
The country’s largest domestic relief network has been mobilized since the morning of the quake, running search operations and providing first aid and emergency shelters across the 15 affected departments. Its volunteers were already assisting among the rubble in Cali and Pereira before international teams arrived.
All Hands and Hearts
The disaster-relief nonprofit reached Pereira within a day of the earthquake, supplying jackhammers and pickaxes to the city’s fire department for search work, along with blankets and rehydration supplies. Its longer-term model puts volunteers into damaged homes and schools during the rebuilding phase.
Direct Relief
This Santa Barbara, California–based medical aid organization is funding health teams working in Eje Cafetero and Chocó and air-transporting personnel, blood products, and medicines to communities cut off by damaged roads.
Americares
Americares has worked in Colombia for 30 years and has run a locally staffed office in Bogotá since 2018. Its team reached Cali the morning after the quake to assess health needs, and it is focused on providing clean water and restoring access to medical care where facilities were damaged.
Project Hope
The global health organization has teams that are distributing hygiene and cleaning supplies to displaced families and assessing damaged hospitals and clinics—critical work in a region where more than 350 health facilities took some level of damage.
Care
Care’s response centers on cash and voucher assistance so families can buy food locally, as well as emergency supply packages and psychosocial support for people who have lost homes and relatives.
GlobalGiving
For donors who would rather not choose, GlobalGiving’s Colombia fund pools contributions and directs them to vetted local organizations, emphasizing the long-term recovery that follows the emergency phase.
