Spain's Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has confirmed the death of a Spanish citizen with dual nationality in the powerful earthquake that struck Colombia earlier this week. He made the announcement Thursday morning as authorities continued assessing the disaster's impact on Spanish nationals in the region.
Albares said the number of Spaniards still unaccounted for in Colombia had fallen sharply, from 75 to 12. He offered condolences to the deceased's family and friends and said the Spanish Embassy and Consulate in Colombia remained fully operational. He urged any Spaniard in the country who had not yet made contact to do so as soon as possible.
Spain dispatched an initial emergency aid package valued at one million euros. The shipment included shelter materials and water and sanitation kits. It also provided support for medical personnel working in the hardest-hit areas. Spanish authorities coordinated with Colombian counterparts to direct assistance to affected communities.
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella gave an initial toll, saying the magnitude-7.4 earthquake in the country's northwest had caused 265 deaths and nearly 3,500 injuries. The disaster had affected more than 25,000 families and left almost 500 people missing. David Tamayo, director of Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), said available resources were being mobilized for the immediate response and risk management.
Later UNGRD figures showed the scale of the ongoing assessments. As of 31 August, Finance Colombia reported 314 dead, 4,437 injured and 262 missing, with 147,464 families, or 262,154 people, affected across 471 municipalities in 15 departments. By 3 September, the reported toll had reached 331 dead, 4,519 injured and 122 missing. On 21 October, EFE cited an official balance of 335 fatalities, 4,516 injuries and 103 people still missing. The successive updates tracked changes in the emergency response and damage assessments.
The earthquake struck on 10 August, with its epicenter near San José del Palmar in Chocó. Reported fatalities were concentrated in neighboring Valle del Cauca and Risaralda, rather than around the epicenter: a departmental breakdown published for 20 August listed 190 deaths in Valle del Cauca, 108 in Risaralda and 12 in Chocó. Later damage assessments cited by Noticias RCN said more than 30,000 homes had been destroyed and another 137,000 damaged, adding to housing and recovery needs.
Humanitarian organizations stepped up their efforts. The seven NGOs that make up the Comité de Emergencia Español launched a joint operation in Colombia. They distributed shelter and food kits and set up mobile clinics for medical and psychosocial care. Teams also created safe spaces for children. Their work focused on severely affected departments, including Chocó, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca. Teams from Acción contra el Hambre, Aldeas Infantiles SOS, Entreculturas, Médicos del Mundo, Oxfam Intermón, Plan International and World Vision assessed needs and put emergency plans into action in affected communities.
Earlier in the emergency, a report from RUSSPAIN covered the initial shock and evacuations in major Colombian cities after the quake. As assessments of casualties, missing people and damage continued, the humanitarian response expanded.
The earthquake struck a seismically active region where several tectonic plates converge. Colombia's response also became a focus of national preparedness efforts: two months after the disaster, local authorities took part in a nationwide emergency-response drill alongside municipalities, schools and businesses. The exercise aimed to test readiness and incorporate lessons from the quake. Later reports described it as the strongest recorded in Colombia during the century. Search and rescue and emergency assistance remained basic concerns, alongside the longer-term work of housing recovery, as authorities assessed the full extent of the damage.
