Colombia Emergency Response, Situation Report #2 (18 August – 10 September 2026)

Country: Colombia Source: CESVI Please refer to the attached file. OPERATIONAL CONTEXT 466,709 People affected 101,416 Uninhabitable homes Colombia continues to face a large-scale humanitarian emergency following the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck San José del Palmar, Chocó, on 10 August. As of 9 September, at least 466,709 people had been recorded as affected across 15 departments and 496 municipalities. The earthquake has also caused widespread disruption to essential infrastructure, affecting 400 health facilities and 141 water supply systems, alongside thousands of educational and community facilities.ii The impact is particularly severe in Chocó and Valle del Cauca. In Chocó, the earthquake is compounding pre-existing vulnerabilities linked to armed conflict, displacement, geographic isolation and limited access to basic services. Humanitarian access remains especially difficult in rural areas, including Litoral del San Juan and San José del Palmar. Affected communities face significant and overlapping humanitarian needs, from access to food, safe water and adequate shelter to protection and psychosocial support. Mental health and psychosocial impacts have emerged as one of the major consequences of the disaster, with anxiety, acute stress, hypervigilance, insomnia and persistent fear of further aftershocks continuing three weeks on.iii CESVI’s field consultations also point to other emerging protection risks: in Buenaventura, informants reported looting of damaged or abandoned homes and individuals posing as humanitarian staff to gain access to houses.iv Further, consultations conducted by CESVI with the Buenaventura Mayor’s Office and Secretaría de la Mujer, together with women community leaders from the San Francisco neighbourhood, highlighted the disproportionate impact of the earthquake on women heads of household, caregivers and small entrepreneurs, whose livelihoods and care responsibilities are closely interlinked. These findings form part of CESVI’s expanded Rapid Needs Assessment, building on the initial assessment presented in SitRep#1, covering the period 10 - 17 August. Between 12 and 27 August, CESVI carried out 776 household surveys and 35 key informant interviews with community leaders and referents across Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca), Quibdó, and other municipalities of Chocó. A rapid WASH assessment of 5 collective shelters in Quibdó was also conducted on 24 August. The findings confirm persistent, and in some cases worsening, needs across housing, livelihoods, protection and psychosocial wellbeing, as outlined below.
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