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.

By the Criollo News Team

The latest: Officials had confirmed at least 132 dead and more than 570 injured as of Tuesday, with the toll rising by the hour — some reports place it closer to 180. More than 2,700 people have been reported missing. Cali, Manizales, Pereira, Quibdó, and Armenia are under the country's highest disaster alert level. We're treating the death toll as a moving number and will update this dispatch as confirmed figures come in.

Illustration of a damaged city skyline after an earthquake in western Colombia — Illustration of the earthquake's impact across cities in western Colombia. Illustration: Criollo News.

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?

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). NBC News, "At least 132 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). ColombiaOne, "Support Channels Open for Those Affected by the Colombia Earthquake" (Aug. 11, 2026). ColombiaOne, "Missing People, Another Drama Beginning to Grow After Earthquake in Colombia" (Aug. 10, 2026). Local10/WPLG, "Global Empowerment Mission asks for cash donations to help quake victims in Colombia" (Aug. 10, 2026). Washington Post, "Colombia rescuers scramble to find survivors as earthquake death toll rises" (Aug. 11, 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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