Colombia Earthquake: 7.4 Magnitude Quake Kills Over 100 as Latin Artists Rally to Support
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, August 10, 2026, killing at least 111 people and damaging hundreds of buildings, according to the Associated Press. The quake, which struck at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 UTC), was centred near the municipality of San José del Palmar in the Chocó region, roughly 250 miles west of Bogotá.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) located the epicentre 5 km east of San José del Palmar at a depth of 107 km, classifying it as an intermediate-focus event — meaning the rupture occurred deep underground, between 70 and 300 km, rather than at the surface. The tremor was felt across Pereira, Quibdó, Cali and Manizales, and reached neighbouring Ecuador and Panama, where minor damage was reported. Bogotá sustained minimal damage, the AP said. People evacuated buildings across Colombia and Ecuador as the ground shook.
Colombia's national disaster-risk management unit, the UNGRD, issued an official communication from Bogotá confirming the quake's magnitude and epicentre. The USGS assigned the event a reviewed magnitude of 7.4 mww, with review status marked as "REVIEWED" and event ID us6000tjl2.
The human cost was immediate and severe. The Associated Press reported more than 100 deaths and hundreds of damaged buildings at the time of publishing. The quake came almost two months after twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck Venezuela on June 24, causing building collapses in La Guaira and Caracas and leaving more than 6,000 dead and nearly 20,000 homeless, Billboard reported.
Colombian artists and Latin music figures used their platforms to share information, offer condolences and direct followers to ways they could help. Shakira posted on Instagram and X, saying "Mi corazón está con todos" — "My heart is with everyone" — and urged Colombians to stay together and wait for instructions to help. Carlos Vives addressed the country in a video, calling on Colombians to work together to support those affected.
Goyo, a singer and native of Chocó now living in Miami, posted that she could not reach many of her relatives after the quake. Camilo shared on his Instagram stories that friends' descriptions of what they endured left him frightened and pained. Maluma called the devastation heartbreaking and said artists were ready to help the victims' families. Greeicy reposted videos from affected communities alongside information on how to assist.
Beyond Colombia's borders, Latin acts Nicky Jam, Enrique Bunbury, Lele Pons and Víctor Manuelle also used their platforms to spread the word. Nicky Jam shared a post saying his heart was with Colombia and every affected family.
For a region where music stars routinely command audiences in the tens of millions, the speed with which these artists turned their feeds toward emergency information was a matter of reach, not ceremony — a post from Shakira or Maluma travels to far more phones in Colombia than most emergency alerts. The death toll and damage assessments remained developing stories as of August 10.
