Samaritan’s Purse Airlifts 48 Tons of Relief Supplies to Earthquake-Hit Colombia

Relief Flight Carries Shelter Supplies to Colombia Earthquake Zone

Colombia’s earthquake death toll had reached at least 273, with 3,824 injured and 377 missing, according to an August 13, 2026, update from the country’s Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (National Disaster Risk Management Unit), three days after a magnitude-7.4 quake struck the department of Chocó near San José del Palmar. Samaritan’s Purse, a Boone, North Carolina-based disaster relief organization, dispatched a Boeing 767 cargo plane from Greensboro, North Carolina, before dawn Thursday carrying more than 48 tons of relief supplies for survivors.

The aircraft’s cargo included hygiene kits, solar lights and shelter materials, aimed at families left without safe housing. The earthquake destroyed thousands of homes and damaged tens of thousands more, according to the disaster risk management unit, which has recorded 12,584 homes destroyed and 74,873 damaged nationwide as of August 13, along with widespread damage to schools, health centers and roads. Samaritan’s Purse said its teams on the ground, working through local churches, would begin distributing the supplies to affected communities as quickly as possible.

The earthquake and its aftershocks caused significant damage in Pereira, Manizales, Cali and Quibdó, the capital of Chocó department. Search-and-rescue crews continue working through collapsed buildings as the Colombian government coordinates additional international assistance, and Samaritan’s Purse said the death and injury figures are expected to keep rising as the response continues.

“Although we don’t know the full extent of the destruction in Colombia yet, so many families are in need of immediate assistance,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse.

Samaritan’s Purse operates in more than 100 countries and says it provides aid to people affected by war, disaster, disease, poverty and famine. It already had a presence in Colombia before this week’s earthquake: in June 2026, the organization dispatched a team from its Colombia country office to respond to a separate pair of earthquakes in neighboring Venezuela. Those existing field offices, the organization said, will support distribution of the newly arrived supplies across the earthquake-affected region.

Headline photo: Samaritan’s Purse staff load pallets of relief supplies onto a cargo aircraft bound for Colombia. (Photo courtesy Samaritan’s Purse)