On 10 August 2026, a powerful Mw 7.4–7.5 earthquake struck the Chocó department of Colombia, killing at least 331 people, injuring over 4,600, and leaving 240 missing. The quake was felt across much of western and central Colombia, as well as parts of Ecuador and Panama, causing extensive damage in cities like Cali, Pereira, and Quibdó, which led the government to declare a national emergency. Seismically, the event occurred along the convergent boundary where the Malpelo plate subducts beneath the South American plate at the Colombia–Ecuador Trench. Striking at an intermediate depth of about 96–110 km, it resulted from strike-slip faulting within the subducting slab rather than on the shallow plate interface. It was the strongest earthquake in Colombia in a decade and the largest since the 1979 Tumaco earthquake, followed by more than 100 aftershocks.