Colombia's Choco region faces a triple crisis after deadly earthquake

A devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia last week has killed at least 312 people and destroyed 29,000 homes, according to figures released by the central government on Wednesday. The epicenter was in the impoverished region of Choco, where recovery is expected to be especially difficult.

Ismael Arias, a 66-year-old math teacher in the regional capital Quibdo, was heading to the market when the quake hit. Leaving early likely saved his life. The two-story home he had spent years building with his modest wages collapsed.

"The house is completely destroyed," he said.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that 69,000 people in Choco — about 10% of its population — were affected or displaced. The regional government says more than 200 schools were damaged, and poor internet access will hinder online learning for children.

Choco, home to around 600,000 people, mostly Afro-Colombian or Indigenous, has long been one of Colombia's most neglected regions. Only two precarious roads connect it to the rest of the country, and many towns are reachable only by plane or boat. There are no roads linking communities along its 650-kilometer Pacific coastline to the interior. In large areas, rebel groups fight over illegal mines and drug trafficking routes, displacing civilians and imposing lockdowns.

"We are facing a triple crisis," said Luis Mora, the United Nations Population Fund's representative in Colombia. "You have the humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake, now joining the under development crisis and the crisis caused by armed conflict in this territory."

Cristian Maturana, a doctor at Quibdo's only public hospital, said the emergency room overflowed with patients suffering broken bones and other injuries. In the days that followed, 36 patients with multiple fractures were flown to a hospital in Medellin because his hospital lacked the personnel and equipment to treat them. The hospital's only blood-storage refrigerator was damaged by a power surge, making transfusions impossible. It was replaced over the weekend with a fridge donated by oncologists in Bogota.

"These have been tough days," Maturana said, adding that support from elsewhere in Colombia and abroad "has been crucial." The emergency room is operating at twice its capacity, with patients treated in chairs or on stretchers in hallways. Donations of antibiotics, bandages, and blood pressure monitors have helped, but the hospital still needs wheelchairs and more beds.

Camilo Prieto, a doctor with the Colombian Environmental Movement, said his group brought in more than 2 tons of medical supplies, including electrocardiogram and ultrasound machines, and flew aid to remote towns with helicopters and small planes. "By land it would be very difficult," he said. "But some companies and owners of private planes have given us flight hours."

Wiston Mosquera, the Roman Catholic bishop of the Quibdo diocese, hopes the quake draws attention to Choco's structural problems, such as poor healthcare, lack of roads, and permanent power supply issues. "We are decades behind the rest of Colombia's regions," said Mosquera, who was born and raised in Choco.

President Abelardo de la Espriella has visited Choco twice since the earthquake and promised a plan with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment and job programs. He said he will designate an official to oversee recovery and provide subsidies for homeless families to rent new homes.

Choco had the highest unemployment rate in Colombia last year, and its GDP per capita was about $3,500 in 2025 — a quarter of Bogota's.

Arias, the math teacher, is skeptical of such promises given the region's history of neglect. He spent around $32,000 building his home, taking out bank loans, and doubts he can raise those funds again on his teacher's salary. "Even if I am helped, I don't think I will get enough," he said. He and his partner are staying at a relative's home. "It's not the same," he says. "You don't have the freedom there that you get in your own house."