Update (19 August): the official help for affected families is now active — rent subsidies, utility-bill relief, and the paperwork is FREE. Here is the complete step-by-step guide to claiming it.
On Monday 10 August, at 7:34am Colombia time, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake with its epicentre at San José del Palmar, in Chocó, shook half the country. It struck where it hurts most: Chocó itself, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Caldas and Quindío — with Cali, Pereira and Manizales among the worst-hit cities. As of 13 August there is still no single consolidated official tally: counts from the different agencies, gathered by the Colombian press, range from 239 to 273 people dead, with more than 3,400 injured and between 287 and 496 reported missing, depending on the body and the time of the bulletin (El Colombiano, El Tiempo); when the Government publishes the official consolidation, you'll find it here. The Government has declared a national disaster and rescuers are still pulling people out alive — on Wednesday, a young woman after 36 hours under the rubble — amid the 130-plus aftershocks counted so far by the Colombian Geological Survey.
These numbers will change. We'll update them every day for as long as the emergency lasts, always with the cut-off date. What doesn't change is the question every Colombian in London has been asking since Monday: what can I do from here? This page exists to answer it without noise: verified channels only.
No news from your family? Start here
If you have people in the affected area and can't get through, there are concrete, free channels. The Colombian Red Cross has activated its Restoring Family Links service: write to [email protected] or WhatsApp +57 321 213 9525 (El Tiempo). In Colombia, your family can report a case and get guidance on line 123.
There is also colombiatebusca.com, a platform for reporting and searching for people that has already gathered thousands of reports. Use it, but be clear about this: it is a citizen initiative, not an official channel — it does not replace reporting to the Police, the Prosecutor's Office or Forensic Medicine (Pulzo).
Our full step-by-step guide to searching for someone from the UK is now live — every verified channel in one place.
Where do I donate from the UK and know it arrives?
The short answer: through a UK-registered charity or through Colombia's official channels. These are the verified routes as of today:
- British Red Cross — Disaster Fund (donate here). The Colombian Red Cross is on the ground doing search and rescue, evacuation and first aid, and the British disaster fund supports that work (British Red Cross). In fairness: it is the general emergencies fund, not a Colombia-only pot.
- UNICEF UK — Colombia Earthquake appeal (donate here, tel. 0300 330 5699). Focused on affected children and families.
- The Colombian Red Cross directly — its #TodosPorColombia campaign takes online donations from abroad on its official website (El Espectador).
- The three organisations authorised by the Colombian Government: Fundación Colombia Luz y Sonrisas (Banco de Bogotá, savings 125128462), Corporación El Minuto de Dios (Davivienda, savings 004000240970) and Abaco — the food banks (Bancolombia, savings 04867105340, Bre-B key 0090989753) (La República). Useful if you'd rather your contribution goes straight into the Colombian system, or if you're donating together with your family over there.
And the DEC — the one that doubled donations for Venezuela a month ago? As of today it has not launched an appeal for Colombia. We're watching daily: if it launches — and with it the British government's UK Aid Match, which turns your £20 into £40 — you'll read it here the same day.
Money, not boxes
The Red Cross says it and anyone who has ever sent a parcel knows it: money arrives in minutes; a box of clothes takes weeks — if it arrives at all. The Colombian Red Cross has expressly asked people to prioritise financial contributions or new essential items, and not to send used clothes or shoes nobody asked for (El Tiempo). With money, teams on the ground buy locally what is genuinely needed — and prop up the battered local economy while they're at it.
And if what you need this week is simply to send money to your family, make every pound arrive as whole as possible: our table for sending money to Colombia is always ordered by what reaches the other end, never by anyone's commission.
The eye you already have: how to smell a fake collection
After every tragedy, fake accounts bloom — including inside our own WhatsApp groups, tricolour poster and all. The rule as ever: if a collection doesn't say who is behind it (a charity with a registration number, an organisation with a face and a name) and where it renders accounts, don't put your money in. When in doubt, any of the channels above.
Is your parish, your team or your business putting together a serious collection in London? Write to us and we'll verify it — this page will keep being updated for as long as the emergency lasts.
The consulate and the paperwork
The Colombian Consulate in London is at Westcott House, 35 Portland Place (W1B 1AE). If the earthquake touches you directly — affected relatives, urgent travel, documents — check its official notices at londres.consulado.gov.co before going, and find opening hours and procedures on our Colombian community page.
You are not alone in this
There are more than 35,000 of us born in Colombia living in the UK, and this week we all have our heads in the same place. The usual places — Elephant & Castle, the Pueblito Paisa at Seven Sisters, the Latin American Chaplaincy in Vauxhall — are this week what they have always been: where you meet, ask after people and get organised. And the same finger that forwards a dubious chain message can forward this: send this page to your groups. Every person who donates through a verified channel is one more pound over there — and one less in a scammer's pocket.
Fuerza, parceros. Colombia has got back up from worse — and it will this time too, with its people pushing from both sides of the ocean.
Figures as of close of 13 August 2026; updated daily for as long as the emergency lasts. Organising a collection or an event for Colombia in London? Tell us and, once verified, we'll add it.