The earthquake in Colombia leaves at least 111 dead and 87 injured, according to the president

The President of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, stated that the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that shook most of the country this Monday leaves a partial death toll of 111 and significant destruction in at least five departments. "At 12:30 (17:30 GMT) we had 111 dead, 87 injured, 1,575 damaged homes, 37 completely destroyed, 61 buildings collapsed, 18 health centers and 52 educational centers damaged," De la Espriella said in Bogotá, in his first public statement after the earthquake, declaring a "national disaster" across the country. #Attention President Abelardo De La Espriella provided the victims and damage report from the earthquake: 111 dead, 87 injured, 1,575 damaged homes, 37 completely destroyed homes, 61 buildings collapsed, 18 health centers damaged, 52 centers… pic.twitter.com/h7b4M56c3N— BluRadio Colombia (@BluRadioCo) August 10, 2026 The leader added that 18 roads were affected by the tremor, as well as seven airports - Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, Cali, and Buenaventura - which suffered infrastructure damage and remain closed and non-operational for commercial flights. De la Espriella will travel this afternoon to Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, where the earthquake's epicenter was located, to personally attend to the emergency, while other members of his cabinet will move to the Valle del Cauca department and the Coffee Axis, the areas most affected by the quake. "The first priority is rescuing people trapped under the rubble," the president said, who is in his third day in office after assuming the position last Friday, August 7. The earthquake, of magnitude 7.4 according to the Colombian Geological Service (SGC), was felt at 07:34 local time (12:34 GMT) and had its epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in Chocó, at a depth of 82 kilometers, causing damage in much of the central and western parts of the country.