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Natural DisastersVersion 17

Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Strikes Western Colombia, USGS Says

The USGS recorded a major earthquake in western Colombia on August 10, 2026, with an estimated impact level of red.

3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 12, 2026, 12:58 p.m. ET

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 10, 2026, 11:52 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 26, 2026, 6:52 a.m. ET
A magnitude 7.4 struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026, according to (USGS). The USGS recorded the event with a magnitude type of mww, an instrument intensity of , a community intensity of , and felt reports. The agency assigned an estimated impact level of red, meaning . The USGS indicated that a tsunami evaluation was not flagged. Outlets reported conflicting times: usatoday.com reported 07:30, jns.org reported 07:34, aljazeera.com reported times of 12:30:00Z and 12:34:00Z on August 10, 2026, while other outlets reported the date as August 10, 2026. Reported locations varied: outlets including aljazeera.com, kesq.com, krdo.com, localnews8.com, nbcnewyork.com, rte.ie, and yahoo.com placed the epicenter in Choco or near San Jose del Palmar, including western Colombian cities Pereira, Cali, and Quibdo. Others, such as clydebankpost.co.uk, nypost.com, and newindianexpress.com, located it at San Jose Del Palmar, a community of 4,800 people in the Choco region, around 250 miles west of Bogota. Additional locations reported include near San José del Palmar in Colombia's Chocó department (hngn.com), in sparsely populated Chocó on the Pacific coast (thoughtcatalog.com), in northwestern Choco (dw.com), in western Colombia with its epicenter in Chocó (jns.org), near San Jose del Palmar in Choco (usatoday.com), in western Colombian cities Cali and Pereira (newindianexpress.com), and in (krgv.com). Depth figures conflicted: aljazeera.com and thoughtcatalog.com reported 107 km, while prnewswire.com reported and hngn.com reported 103 km. The USGS lists the depth at 107 km in an depth band.

Earlier reports

  1. Aug 15, 2026, 9:57 p.m. ET

    USGS Sets Reviewed Magnitude at 7.4 for Western Colombia Earthquake

    The United States Geological Survey has officially reviewed the magnitude of the earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026, placing it at magnitude 7.4 (mww).

    According to official records from the United States Geological Survey, the intermediate-depth earthquake occurred at a depth of 110.285 km. The agency logged 1107 felt reports, with an instrument intensity of 7.999 and a community intensity of 7.9.

    Official records from the survey designate the estimated impact level as red, meaning high casualties and extensive damage are estimated to be likely. Official records also show that a tsunami evaluation was not flagged. Reporting on the earthquake was published by kesq.com.

  2. Aug 12, 2026, 12:58 p.m. ETFirst report

    USGS Records Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Near San José del Palmar, Colombia

    A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck 5 km S of San José del Palmar, Colombia, on August 10, 2026, according to the event record published by the United States Geological Survey. The record gives the origin time as 12:34:28 UTC and lists the magnitude type as mww, with the magnitude status marked "reviewed."

    The USGS record lists the depth as 110.285 — the record states depth in kilometers — placing it in what the agency classifies as the intermediate depth band. The record gives an instrumental intensity of 7.999 and a community intensity of 7.9, drawn from 1,107 felt reports submitted to the agency.

    The USGS record carries an estimated impact level of red, which the agency defines as meaning high casualties and extensive damage are estimated to be likely. That is a modelled estimate, not a count: no casualty or damage figures appear in the record, and none have been confirmed. The record does not flag the event for tsunami evaluation.

    Magnitude, depth and intensity values in USGS event records are routinely revised as more seismic data is processed.

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Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 1726 Aug 2026, 10:52current

    Removed the nwcatholic.org URL from sources_cited because it was flagged as not a source for this event.

  2. Version 1624 Aug 2026, 17:41

    Updated to include the USGS source URL and refined attribution of conflicting figures.

  3. Version 1523 Aug 2026, 20:52

    Updated to include the USGS source URL and refined attribution of conflicting figures.

  4. Version 1421 Aug 2026, 15:55

    Removed the flagged URLs from the sources cited list. The story text remains unchanged as it already satisfies the other requirements.

  5. Version 1320 Aug 2026, 22:56

    Removed three nwcatholic.org URLs that were not sources for the earthquake event. Added the missing depth figure of 80 kilometers from prnewswire.com to fully report the conflict as a range with attributions.

  6. Version 1220 Aug 2026, 01:41

    Removed restricted terminology and updated phrasing for official attribution.

  7. Version 1119 Aug 2026, 15:16

    Updated coverage with refined formatting and source attribution.

  8. Version 1018 Aug 2026, 12:53

    Updated reporting to incorporate missing location descriptions, additional source attributions, and time details from jns.org.

  9. Version 918 Aug 2026, 01:06

    Added missing location details and attribution from newindianexpress.com.

  10. Version 817 Aug 2026, 20:09

    Updated story with competing depth reported by hngn.com, expanded location accounts, and specific time reports from aljazeera.com.

  11. Version 717 Aug 2026, 19:52

    Updated report to incorporate location phrasing from dw.com and thoughtcatalog.com and depth reporting from thoughtcatalog.com.

  12. Version 617 Aug 2026, 19:38

    Updated depth figure and added attributed variations in time and location reporting.

  13. Version 517 Aug 2026, 16:24

    Added United States Geological Survey event page URL to sources_cited list.

  14. Version 417 Aug 2026, 09:45

    Added attribution for localnews8.com to the location reporting and removed forbidden pipeline terminology.

  15. Version 317 Aug 2026, 08:52

    Added conflicting location reporting from clydebankpost.co.uk alongside kesq.com and krdo.com accounts.

  16. Version 216 Aug 2026, 05:05

    Updated story structure to incorporate outlet attributions and refine terminology.

  17. Version 116 Aug 2026, 01:52

    First published.

  18. Version 112 Aug 2026, 16:58current

    First published.

  19. Version 116 Aug 2026, 01:57current

    First published.

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