Colombia earthquake: What is MSF doing and how can I help?
Since the 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on 10 August 2026, the emergency has evolved into a complex humanitarian crisis, with impacts varying significantly across regions.
According to the latest official figures from Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), as of 20 August 2026, 319 people have died, 4,506 have been injured, and 260 remain missing.
More than 282,000 people have been affected across 15 departments and 476 municipalities. Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities are among the hardest hit.
Damage to infrastructure is significant: more than 31,000 homes have been destroyed, nearly 163,000 damaged, 302 buildings have collapsed, and 348 health facilities and 3,483 schools have sustained damage.
The highest number of deaths has been reported in Cali and Pereira. However, the largest gaps in access to medical care remain in mid-sized cities such as Buenaventura and Quibdó, as well as in hard-to-reach rural areas where the health system was already facing serious limitations before the earthquake.
How can I help MSF in Colombia?
Right now, our teams are responding to the medical and humanitarian needs in Colombia.
This is only possible because of donations from people like you.
By donating to our Emergency Fund today, you will help ensure we can respond to emergencies around the world, like the earthquake in Colombia.
Please donate today to support our emergency teams.
Click here to learn more about how we spend your money.
How is MSF responding?
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has deployed emergency teams, prioritising Valle del Cauca and Chocó. Our teams are running mobile clinics providing primary health care, mental health support, and sexual and reproductive health services in affected neighbourhoods where local health facilities have been damaged or overwhelmed.
During the first days of activities in Quibdó, MSF teams provided assistance at the Municipal Coliseum shelter and in the Medrano and Las Palmas neighbourhoods. There, they carried out 250 general medical consultations, more than 60 nursing and family planning consultations, and 170 rapid laboratory tests.
Teams prioritised care for children under five, pregnant women, and patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
In mental health, MSF has provided 37 individual consultations and seven group psychoeducation sessions, reaching 57 people. The most frequently reported symptoms include hypervigilance, fear of further aftershocks, difficulty sleeping, deep sadness, and psychosomatic reactions such as dizziness and headaches.
In Buenaventura, MSF teams began running mobile clinics on 20 August in the Alberto Lleras neighbourhood, one of the most affected areas of the city. They conducted 46 medical consultations, nine individual mental health consultations, and five group sessions, serving 31 patients.
MSF has also donated hygiene kits, paediatric medicines, antibiotics, wound care supplies, treatments for chronic diseases, and ready-to-use therapeutic food to ESE Ismael Roldán in Quibdó and IPS Espíritu Santo in Unión Panamericana, which supplies rural health posts.
Our teams continue to assess needs and adapt the response to reach the most vulnerable people and those with the least access to medical care.
MSF and natural disasters
Catastrophic events such as earthquakes, cyclones or tsunamis can overwhelm entire communities, cities or regions within minutes.
Since 1971, MSF teams have taken life-saving emergency action in many of the most devastating events to hit the headlines.
Our teams are experts in delivering rapid and effective medical aid in natural disasters. Our decades of experience and unrivalled independent funding mean that when an emergency hits, we can mobilise a global effort to act fast and save lives.