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A powerful earthquake has devastated parts of Colombia, leaving communities struggling with collapsed buildings, damaged roads and a growing humanitarian emergency. The 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck on Monday, August 10, and has become one of the country’s strongest earthquakes in decades. Reuters reported that at least 250 people had died by August 12, with many others injured or still missing.
The disaster has affected several areas of western and central Colombia, with particularly severe scenes reported in cities and communities including Pereira and Manizales. Emergency workers have been searching through collapsed structures while families wait desperately for news of relatives who remain missing.
The photograph accompanying this article shows a severely damaged multi-story residential building, with several floors partially collapsed and rubble covering the street below. **The image should be treated as an illustrative image unless its exact location and provenance are independently confirmed.** Reports from the affected region, however, confirm that buildings have suffered serious earthquake damage.
## A Nation Shaken
The earthquake struck on August 10 with a magnitude of 7.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey as reported by Reuters. The tremor was powerful enough to be felt over a wide area, with shaking reported as far away as Panama.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of about 100 kilometers. Although that depth allowed some of the earthquake’s energy to dissipate before reaching the surface, the event still caused widespread destruction and a major loss of life. Scientists say the earthquake’s location and the way the ground moved contributed to the damage.
Colombia lies in a region where several tectonic plates interact. The Nazca plate moves beneath the South American plate, creating geological stresses that can eventually be released as earthquakes. Colombia is therefore considered a seismically active country.
The disaster has also highlighted the importance of building standards. Colombia introduced earthquake-resistant construction measures decades ago and established its current building code in 2010. Yet experts say that the age, materials, location and construction quality of individual buildings can make a major difference in how structures perform during powerful shaking.
## Rescue Operations Continue
In the hours following the earthquake, rescue workers faced a race against time. Collapsed buildings created dangerous piles of concrete, steel and broken household materials, making every search operation difficult.
One of the most remarkable survival stories came from Pereira, where 32-year-old Daniela was trapped beneath the remains of a four-story building. Her family feared she had died after she failed to arrive for her son’s 12th birthday celebration.