Colombia grapples with rebuilding a shattered nation after a deadly earthquake
Aug 14, 2026, 9:15 AM | Updated: 11:54 am
CALI, Colombia (AP) — As the search for survivors in the rubble of a devastating earthquake winds down, Colombia faces another challenge: rebuilding a nation shattered by a disaster that killed at least 285 people and affected more than 100,000.
Tens of thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed, according to the government. Authorities have also reported damage to thousands of schools, medical facilities and community centers in more than 400 cities.
“There is no place to live, we lost everything,” Ebert Jonathan Morales, 38, told The Associated Press from a shelter in Cali, one of the hardest-hit cities along with Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo.
Morales is one of the 102,263 people whose lives have been upended by the 7.4 magnitude quake that struck the South American country Monday. The government says more than 280 people died, nearly 4,000 people were injured and hundreds remain missing. Private groups estimate the number of missing is in the thousands.
Like tens of thousands of others, Morales is trying to rebuild his life from scratch with his wife and four children.
“The earthquake destroyed several neighborhoods in the city. Many houses were damaged, and buildings collapsed,” he said. “We are going to stay here until the government gives us some help, some support.”
The devastation has tested Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was inaugurated just days before the earthquake shook the country’s west. De la Espriella acknowledged Thursday night that “the situation is complex” and announced a plan to partner with private companies to rebuild the nation, as well as subsidies for families who are homeless.
“We will not overcome this tragedy alone as a government,” he said. “We need the private sector to rebuild Colombia together.”
Monday’s earthquake was the most powerful to hit Colombia this century. Government aid has yet to arrive in some areas, where many people are relying on volunteers and neighbors for help.
“A neighbor is giving me shelter,” Olga Castro, a mother of five, told The Associated Press. “At least we survived, but right now we are practically on the street because we don’t have a home anymore.”
De la Espriella said national and international funds raised in response to the disaster will focus on the reconstruction of hospitals, schools, homes, roads and airports.
But rebuilding the country requires a “serious technical assessment” to determine which buildings can be used, which can be repaired and which must be demolished and rebuilt, said Yezid Alvarado Vargas, a professor in construction engineering at Javeriana University, in Bogota, Colombia.
“Before even discussing reconstruction, we must guarantee temporary housing, food, healthcare, continuity of basic services and economic support for families who lost their homes or livelihoods,” Alvarado said.
Local authorities opened schools, parks and public buildings as shelters, providing tents, mattresses and food to the displaced. In other parts of the hardest-hit cities, residents improvised shelters in the streets, while hundreds of volunteers rush to help those in greatest need, particularly in less accessible areas.
“These are isolated, neglected territories, historically lacking in institutional support, already plagued by violence, and now they are hit by an earthquake of this magnitude,” said María Mercedes Liévano, director of Save the Children in Colombia.
“It’s a crisis on top of a crisis, leaving the population in a situation of extreme vulnerability,” she added, citing communities including Buenaventura, the country’s main port, and Chocó, the earthquake’s epicenter.
De la Espriella is expected to visit several cities Friday to track relief efforts and aid distribution, including Quibdo, in the Chocó region, and Pereira. Meanwhile, authorities are awaiting tons of supplies and humanitarian aid from countries that have pledged their support, among them Peru, China, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
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Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia and Batschke reported from Santiago, Chile.
