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🇺🇸 United States /Disasters & Emergencies

Colombia Earthquake Survivors Face Long Road to Recovery

From CBS News · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia's coffee region on August 13, 2026, killing at least 265 people and trapping hundreds.
  • Jahir Rodríguez, an urban planner who survived a 1999 quake in the same region, described the "sense of powerlessness" and the long-term challenges of recovery.
  • Rodríguez highlighted the immediate needs of counting victims, organizing displaced people, and planning reconstruction, noting that people will need housing for years.

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake devastated parts of Colombia's coffee region on Monday, August 13, 2026, leaving at least 265 people dead and hundreds more trapped under debris. The quake struck near Pereira, where urban planner Jahir Rodríguez witnessed buildings crumble.

You feel a sense of powerlessness.

— Jahir RodríguezDescribing his emotional response to witnessing the earthquake's destruction.

Rodríguez, 68, has firsthand experience with the aftermath of such disasters, having responded to a deadly 1999 earthquake in Armenia that killed around 1,200 people. He described the overwhelming "sense of powerlessness" as he saw glass shatter and walls crack. He recalled advice from Japanese responders after the 1999 quake: "You will be here for years," they told him, referring to the long-term displacement and recovery efforts.

It is a mistake to think that you will be here for days or months. You will be here for years.

— Japanese responders (quoted by Jahir Rodríguez)Advising on the long-term nature of earthquake recovery efforts.

Rodríguez noted that while the new government is helping set up temporary encampments in parks, this approach may be insufficient. He stressed that people will remain displaced for years and require permanent housing. The immediate priorities, he explained, are to account for all victims, organize shelter for the displaced, and develop reconstruction plans.

The first is to count people, the second is to organize them where they will be placed, and the third is the reconstruction plans.

— Jahir RodríguezOutlining the immediate priorities following the earthquake.

He also described the difficulty of convincing people to leave their uninhabitable homes. After Monday's quake, he visited a fellow urban planner whose apartment building had collapsed. His friend refused to leave the site, fearing vandals would enter the building, a problem that was also prevalent after the 1999 earthquake. "People are here in front of the sidewalk, watching their house," Rodríguez said sadly, observing families making meals by the roadside and contemplating their uncertain future.

People are here in front of the sidewalk, watching their house.

— Jahir RodríguezDescribing the scene of displaced residents after the earthquake.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CBS News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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