Chocó, Colombia, Faces Deeper Hardship After an Earthquake

Chocó, Colombia, Faces Deeper Hardship After an Earthquake - The New York Times

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!Many people in a line move supplies on a green mountain slope. A blue-and-white helicopter is parked on the hill, with more mountains behind.

An Isolated Corner of Colombia Faces Deeper Hardship After a Quake

In Chocó, a remote region, “pain, hunger and homelessness await” survivors of last week’s earthquake, the governor said. Shakira visited to help draw awareness.

*Soldiers and volunteers offloading aid supplies from a helicopter in San José del Palmar, Colombia, a remote town close to the earthquake’s epicenter.*

An Isolated Corner of Colombia Faces Deeper Hardship After a Quake

In Chocó, a remote region, “pain, hunger and homelessness await” survivors of last week’s earthquake, the governor said. Shakira visited to help draw awareness.

Soldiers and volunteers offloading aid supplies from a helicopter in San José del Palmar, Colombia, a remote town close to the earthquake’s epicenter.

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By

Genevieve Glatsky

Photographs by

Federico Rios

Genevieve Glatsky and Federico Rios traversed Chocó, Colombia, by car, boat and helicopter over several days.

Aug. 18, 2026

Updated 5:19 a.m. ET

Leer en español

In Colombia’s remote Pacific region of Chocó, isolation has long been a fact of life. Roads are few, electricity and health care are limited, and much of the population lives in poverty while armed groups control parts of the territory.

Then came the earthquake. Already one of the country’s most vulnerable areas, Chocó was also the epicenter of a 7.4 magnitude quake that struck last week, killing at least 298 people across the country.

In Chocó, the full extent of the devastation is unknown, as the authorities struggle to reach communities scattered across the region. Now, Chocó faces a reconstruction effort that will have to overcome the same geographic, economic and political barriers that have shaped the region for generations.

“We were left in ruins,” said Juan Fernando Taborda, 35, who does odd jobs in La Ye, a town of about 600 people two hours from the Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, where most buildings were destroyed or damaged. “We have nothing.”

For much of Colombia’s history, Chocó was a remote mining frontier where enslaved Africans were brought by the Spanish to work in the mines. Some escaped and formed communities beyond colonial control.

Image

!People shifting through the ruins of a multilevel building left uninhabitable by the earthquake.

*People grabbing items from damaged buildings in La Ye, Colombia.*

**Corrected on**

Aug. 18, 2026

:

A picture caption in an earlier version of this article misstated the day the performer Shakira visited Chocó. It was Monday, as the article noted — not Thursday.

We acknowledge mistakes in our reporting with corrections. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected].

Learn more.

Genevieve Glatsky

is a reporter for The Times, based in Bogotá, Colombia.

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