Colombia Limits Foreign Rescue Teams as Quake Search Continues
Colombia says it will accept only certified international teams as officials warn the 72-hour rescue window is closing and survivor chances are fading.
- On August 10, 2026, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, devastating Cali, Pereira, and Chocó, killing at least 265 people and injuring thousands while leaving hundreds missing.
- President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a three-month economic emergency and established the 'Fondo Milagro' reconstruction fund, granting him temporary authority to issue economic decrees without congressional approval.
- Citing professional certification requirements, authorities accepted international search-and-rescue teams from only the United States, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Israel, though critics alleged the administration blocked teams from nations with leftist leadership.
- Rescue crews raced through a critical 72-hour survival window closing Thursday to find survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings, while thousands of displaced families sought refuge in temporary shelters and parks.
- Seismologist Rodrigo León Loya noted Colombia's active fault lines, warning that further seismic activity remains possible following the strongest tremor to hit the country this century, surpassing the 1999 Ibagué disaster.
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319 Articles
Authorities in Colombia are looking for hundreds of missing persons, but attention to the emergency is not without political controversy. Read why.
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Brave NJ mom died trying to save daughter in Colombia earthquake that’s killed 281
A brave New Jersey mom died trying to save her daughter from a building that collapsed in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia, which has killed at least 281 people and injured almost 4,000 others. Magnolia Garcia Lugo, a 57-year-old mom of three, had initially escaped the building in Roldanillo when Monday’s quake struck –...
Between concrete blocks, bent steel parts and dust, helpers continue to search for possible survivors on the fourth day after the earthquake in Colombia.
As the human situation increases after the earthquake of magnitude 7.4, rescue workers continue their efforts on the ground to find the hundreds of missing persons.
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