On 10 August 2026 at 7:34 local time, the earth shook in Colombia, as strongly as only twice before in the country's history. If you live there or are planning the move, you have had many questions since, and social media is full of answers, some of which are simply wrong. What the authorities have officially established so far is clearer than much of what is circulating. And it has consequences for you if you live there or plan to: for the city you choose, the building you live in and how you prepare.
What happened on 10 August
According to the Servicio Geológico Colombiano (SGC), the national geological and seismological authority, the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.4 at a depth of around 103 kilometres. The epicentre was near San José del Palmar in the department of Chocó, in the west of the country. The SGC's director general described it as the third strongest earthquake in Colombia's history. Stations near the epicentre recorded between 90 seconds and two minutes of ground motion.
The cause is subduction: the Nazca Plate is pushing under the South American Plate. The SGC explains that such a deep quake was felt so widely because of its magnitude. With this much energy, the force does not dissipate underground. Through the Sismo Sentido reporting function, the SGC received more than 20,000 reports from over 1,200 localities.
The authority is explicit on two points. First: earthquakes cannot be predicted, and neither can aftershocks. Anyone spreading the date and time of "the next big one" in messenger groups is spreading nonsense. Second: the quake has nothing to do with the Puracé volcano, which is currently active.
The official toll: provisional figures of 19 August
The most comprehensive official damage assessment so far is in a government document. With Decreto 1261 of 19 August 2026, the government declared a state of economic, social and ecological emergency because of a serious public calamity, initially for 30 days. The decree draws on situation report no. 36 of the national disaster risk management agency UNGRD, as of 19 August, 12:30. According to it:
| Impact | Provisional figure |
|---|---|
| Deaths | 314 |
| Injured | 4,437 |
| Missing | 262 |
| Homes destroyed | 30,664 |
| Homes damaged | 136,946 |
| Buildings collapsed | 302 |
| People affected | 262,154 (147,464 families) |
| Departments affected | 15 |
| Municipalities affected | 471 |
The UNGRD stresses that these figures are provisional and expected to rise considerably, because mountainous terrain, scattered settlements and roads blocked by landslides are delaying the count. By the morning of 19 August, according to the decree, the SGC had recorded 393 aftershocks, some above magnitude 4.
The decree lists the affected departments as Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Chocó, Quindío, Cundinamarca, Risaralda, Huila, Valle del Cauca, Tolima, Putumayo, Norte de Santander, Bolívar, Nariño and Sucre. The strongest shaking, intensity V to VII on the European EMS-98 scale, occurred in parts of Chocó, on the western slope of the Western Cordillera, in the Coffee Region (Eje Cafetero) and in Valle del Cauca. The quake was felt in 30 departments, in other words practically the whole country.
In the decree itself, the government draws the comparison with the Coffee Region earthquake of 25 January 1999, magnitude 6.2. According to the comparison table printed in the decree, 1,185 people died then, considerably more than according to the 2026 figures so far. The number of homes destroyed, on the other hand, is of the same order (35,972 in 1999). And the damage zone is much larger this time: 17 municipalities affected in 1999, 471 as of 19 August.
Why this matters for where you live
Many people move to Colombia for the climate of the Andean cities. Pereira, Manizales and Armenia lie in the Coffee Region, Cali in Valle del Cauca, which are exactly the regions the decree names for the strongest shaking. Antioquia with Medellín and Cundinamarca with Bogotá are on the list of affected departments. That is not chance but geology. The SGC explains that Colombia lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire and that in the west of the country the subduction of the Nazca Plate, together with active faults, is the main source of large earthquakes. Another hotspot lies in the north-east: beneath the municipality of Los Santos in Santander, the so-called Bucaramanga nest, the SGC says 40% to 50% of all the country's seismic activity takes place.
Does that mean you should avoid Colombia? No. Earthquake risk is part of life in this part of the world, the way storms are part of life on an exposed coast. It does mean the risk should be part of your decision, not at the "which country" stage but at the "which building" stage. For an overview of the other safety questions, from crime to regions with travel warnings, see the article on safety in Colombia.
The building decides: what the building code requires
Colombia has a binding seismic building code. Ley 400 of 1997 sets minimum requirements for the design, construction and technical supervision of new buildings. Its express aim is that buildings withstand seismic forces and that the risk to human life is reduced to a minimum. The technical details are in the seismic standard NSR-10, to which the law refers. Enforcement happens at municipal level: under Article 2, the offices that issue building permits may not approve plans that do not comply with the law, and every building must follow the approved plans.
For tenants and buyers, that raises a few very practical questions:
What else to look out for when searching for a home and signing contracts is also covered in the Colombia reality check.
Insurance: read the policy, do not just take it out
Earthquake damage to buildings and contents is not automatically insured. Whether your policy in Colombia covers the terremoto risk, with what deductible and up to what amount, is in the terms and conditions, and that is where you should look before anything happens. As a tenant, it is mainly your own contents that concern you. As an owner, it is about the building, and in a flat in a shared building often about the owners' association policy, whose cover you should know.
Health insurance is just as important. If you are injured after a quake, you end up in a hospital system that in the affected region is dealing with many emergencies at once and may itself be damaged. The comparison table in the decree counts 352 affected health facilities and 3,470 affected educational facilities up to 19 August. How to prepare, which clinics to consider and when an air ambulance evacuation makes sense is set out in the health emergency plan for Latin America.
Preparation that costs nothing
The most effective preparation is unspectacular and costs little:
What the state of emergency means for foreigners
The state of emergency under Article 215 of the constitution allows the government to issue temporary decrees with the force of law to manage the crisis. Decreto 1261 itself contains the declaration of the emergency, its justification and the area it covers, but not yet the individual relief measures. It announces those in Article 3 as separate decrees with the force of law. The declaration contains no rule that automatically suspends foreigners' visas or deadlines. If you have lost documents because of the quake or cannot keep appointments, document that, follow the announcements of Migración Colombia and inform the authority early, rather than simply letting deadlines pass. How visas and the cédula work in Colombia in principle is explained on the Colombia country page.
Keeping it in proportion
Colombia is an earthquake country, and it was one before 10 August too. The quake changes nothing about the reasons people move there: climate, costs, the way of life. But it does change how seriously you should take a question many people moving there have so far skipped: what kind of building do I actually live in? You will not find the answer in forums, but in the building permit, in an engineer's report and in the terms of your insurance.
Our sympathy goes first to everyone living in the affected regions. And if you are still planning the move, use the weeks before the decision to examine city, neighbourhood and building as carefully as you look at the rent and the view.