Dispatch · Colombia · Updated August 11, 2026
Colombia Is Digging Out. Here's How to Actually Help.
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake tore through western Colombia on Monday — the strongest on record there. Verified relief channels, a missing-persons line, and what our diaspora readers can do.
Update log
On Monday, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake tore through western Colombia, centered near San José del Palmar in Chocó — a Pacific coast region home to the country's largest population of Afro-Colombian and historically underserved communities. It is the strongest earthquake on record in Colombia since seismic record-keeping began in the early 1920s.
Buildings collapsed in Cali, Manizales, Pereira, and Quibdó. Search-and-rescue teams are working through the rubble as aftershocks continue. Shaking was felt as far as Panama and Ecuador.
For a diaspora that stretches from Queens to Miami to Los Angeles, the first instinct is the same one it always is when disaster hits home: how do I help, and how do I find out if my people are okay?
Where the damage is worst
The casualty count isn't evenly spread. As of Tuesday morning, Pereira had recorded 101 deaths and Cali 95 — together accounting for the large majority of confirmed fatalities — with 13 more deaths reported in Chocó, the rural department closest to the epicenter near San José del Palmar. Nearly 100 aftershocks have been recorded since Monday's initial quake, including a magnitude 3.8 aftershock centered in the same area early Tuesday.
The UN's humanitarian office, OCHA, estimates roughly 5,000 homes have been damaged across the affected region, with dozens of buildings collapsed outright and hundreds more residences destroyed. Electricity, water, phone service, and healthcare access remain disrupted in several areas — conditions that are hardest in Chocó, nearest the epicenter, where damaged roads and downed communications are slowing both rescue crews and aid delivery.
The Colombian Red Cross has activated its National Crisis Room and deployed search-and-rescue teams from Antioquia, Quindío, and Caldas; thirty responders from Antioquia alone have been sent into Chocó. In the hardest-hit cities, crews have been working through the night with cranes and excavators — and at times bare hands — cutting through collapsed structures in the search for anyone still trapped.
If you're trying to reach someone
The Colombian Red Cross has set up a WhatsApp line to collect and cross-reference reports of missing persons: +57 321 213 9525. Families have also been posting to citizen-run tracking databases, mostly concentrated on cases in Cali and Pereira — a reminder that the fastest information right now is often coming from the ground, not official channels.
Where to send money (and where not to)
Authorities and aid groups are being blunt about one thing: fraudulent donation campaigns multiply fast after a disaster like this. Give directly through an organization's own site — not a link in a DM, a QR code on social media, or an account you can't verify independently.
Verified channels currently active:
- Colombian Red Cross — leading the on-the-ground response, also requesting blood donations for hospitals stretched thin by injuries. ayuda.cruzrojacolombiana.org
- ABACO (Colombian Food Banks Network) — moved 55,000+ tons of food to 1.6 million people in 2025 alone; now redirecting that logistics network toward earthquake relief. abaco.org.co/donar
- World Central Kitchen — teams already on the ground in Chocó, Cali, Pereira, and Manizales preparing meals. donate.wck.org
- Global Empowerment Mission — the Doral, Florida-based nonprofit that responded to June's Venezuela earthquakes has deployed a team to Chocó and is buying food locally rather than shipping it in, which stretches donations further. globalempowermentmission.org/mission/colombia-earthquake
If you're outside Colombia, cash is almost always more useful than goods — it lets local teams buy exactly what's needed and skip the customs and shipping delays that can leave donated goods sitting at a port for weeks.
For our South Florida and diaspora readers: Colombian community organizations in Doral, Miami, and other diaspora hubs are already organizing local collection drives and fundraisers. If your church, association, or community group is running one, tell us and we'll help spread the word in a future dispatch.
Why it matters — for the diaspora: disaster response crosses borders. Many Latino and immigrant families across our readership have relatives, neighbors, or coworkers in Colombia, and verified information moves slower than the group chat right when it matters most.
Sources
CNN, "Death toll rises to 132 following 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia" (Aug. 10, 2026) and "Live updates: Over 200 dead in Colombia earthquake, with rescuers unable to reach epicenter yet" (Aug. 11, 2026). CNBC, "Colombia quake death toll tops 250 as rescuers race to find survivors" (Aug. 11, 2026) — casualty breakdown by city, aftershock count. NBC News, "More than 160 people killed in Colombia's strongest earthquake in years." Al Jazeera, "Colombia quake: Frantic search for survivors as over 2,700 reported missing" (Aug. 11, 2026). Washington Post, "Colombia searches for its missing after a powerful earthquake kills more than 100" (Aug. 11, 2026) — rescue operation and Red Cross deployment details. U.S. News/Reuters, "Colombia Rescue Efforts Press on After Quake, Death Toll Expected to Rise" (Aug. 11, 2026) — OCHA housing-damage estimate, infrastructure disruption. ColombiaOne, "Support Channels Open for Those Affected by the Colombia Earthquake" and "Missing People, Another Drama Beginning to Grow After Earthquake in Colombia" (Aug. 10–11, 2026). Local10/WPLG, "Global Empowerment Mission asks for cash donations to help quake victims in Colombia" (Aug. 10, 2026). All accessed Aug. 11, 2026.
We'll keep updating this
If you know of a verified relief effort we should include, or a local diaspora drive we should help promote, reach out.
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