Colombia

At Least 111 Dead as 7.4 Earthquake Hits Colombia

Is climate change making earthquakes more dangerous or is seismic risk purely a geological issue unrelated to global warming?

Published AUG 10

At Least 111 Dead as 7.4 Earthquake Hits Colombia

Story

Above: A police officer walks amid the debris of a damaged store in Manizales on Aug. 10. Image credit: John Bonilla/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said in a national address on Monday that the death toll from a powerful earthquake that hit western Colombia earlier in the day was at 111 as of 12:30 p.m. He further declared a national state of emergency.
Guardian
La FM
El Tiempo on X
Reuters
Local authorities and media outlets have confirmed deaths in five departments so far: at least 42 in Risaralda, at least 27 in Valle del Cauca, at least 12 in Chocó, at least three in Caldas and at least one in Antioquia.
BluRadio Colombia
Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi on X
Reuters
A 7.4-magnitude quake struck Colombia at around 7:30 a.m. local time, with its epicenter near the municipality of San José del Palmar in the Chocó department at an estimated depth of between 96 and 110 kilometers (59 to 68 miles).
US Geological Survey
Servicio Geologico Colombiano on X
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the shock stemmed from a strike-slip fault where the Nazca plate slides beneath the South American plate. Colombia's geological service recorded two 2.8- and 4.8-magnitude aftershocks near San José del Palmar at 8:18 a.m. and 10:01 a.m.
US Geological Survey
The Associated Press
Servicio Geologico Colombiano on X
Servicio Geologico Colombiano on X
The tremor was felt across the country, including major cities such as Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, prompting evacuations as multiple buildings collapsed. The quake was also detected as far away as parts of neighboring countries Venezuela and Ecuador.
Colombia One
The Weather Channel on X
Reuters
BBC News
Damage was reported at several regional airports, suspending operations in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura, while the dome of the Manizales Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica reportedly collapsed.
Colombia Reports
El Nuevo Siglo
The Miami Herald

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Global warming is making earthquakes more frequent and more dangerous, especially in coastal cities. Rising sea levels increase hydrostatic pressure on tectonic faults, disrupting seismic cycles and pushing faults closer to rupture earlier than expected. Colombia's Pacific Coast is among the areas facing compounding risks from climate-driven quakes, landslides and tsunamis that demand urgent investment in monitoring and resilient infrastructure.

GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences

Climate-skeptic narrative

Earthquakes are driven by tectonic plate movement powered by mantle convection, a geological process that operates on timescales and forces completely independent of human activity. Climate change simply does not belong in the conversation about what causes seismic events. Pinning earthquake risk on global warming distracts from the real work of understanding fault systems and building safer infrastructure in geologically active zones.