Colombia Earthquake

RE: SITREP #6 — GEM Operations (Colombia)

Date: August 24, 2026

Primary Operational Areas: Quindío / Coffee Region, Valle del Cauca, Pereira, Manizales, Chocó & Antioquia

1. Summary / Current Status

GEM Colombia teams continue to expand humanitarian operations across the Coffee Region while completing priority distributions in Valle del Cauca and preparing for the next operational phase in Chocó and Antioquia.

Current Focus: Completing priority distributions and expanding operations throughout the Coffee Region.

Recent Movement: 44 pallets arrived in Armenia and were distributed August 22–23, prioritizing communities that had received little or no previous assistance.

Incoming / Onward Movement: An additional 100 pallets arrived through Cali Airport for onward movement to Armenia, Pereira, Manizales and priority communities throughout Quindío.

Armenia is now GEM’s primary operational hub for the Coffee Region, supported by donated warehouse space provided at zero cost through local coffee-industry partners.

Over the last several days, GEM has delivered approximately 3,000 GEM kits, supporting approximately 7,500 people, primarily throughout Armenia and the broader Quindío region. Operations have included remote rural and Indigenous communities that previously received limited or no humanitarian assistance.

Local volunteers and community leaders are providing vehicles, 4×4 transportation, beneficiary census information and logistical support, allowing GEM to significantly expand reach while maintaining low operational overhead.

2. Humanitarian Aid Delivered

August 19 — Vallejuelo, Zarzal, Valle del Cauca

• 9 pallets of GEM kits 
• 585 GEM kit units 
• 1,462 people served

Local residents also prepared and served a hot lunch for beneficiary families during the distribution.

August 20 — Bugalagrande, Valle del Cauca

• 12 pallets of GEM kits — 780 units
• 40 tents
• 29 boxes of face masks — 12,760 units
• 12 circular saws 
• 1,950 people served

The Vallejuelo and Bugalagrande operations were organized by Luis Velasquez with strong local coordination and execution.

August 22 — Fenicia, Riofrío, Valle del Cauca

• 12 pallets of GEM  kits — 800 units
• 24 folding cots
• 2,000+ people served

3. Quindío / Coffee Region Operations

The detailed Quindío distribution log records 2,838 GEM kits across 29 distribution entries, representing approximately 7,500++ people served throughout the region.

Key distribution totals include:

• Armenia — 396
• Tebaida — 297
• Circasia — 296
• Calarcá / Armenia / Montenegro — 200
• Montenegro — 183
• Salento — 158
• Quimbaya / La Carrilera — 152
• Afro-descendant communities — 100
• Filandia Cabecera / La India / Arabia — 100
• Coffee Cooperative — 92
• Salvador Allende Bajo, Armenia — 80
• Río Lejos — 65
• Indigenous Kichwa population — 60
• Filandia / Santa Teresa — 60
• Filandia — 60
• Puerto Alejandría — 54
• La Cauchera / Morelia Alta — 50
• Santander, Armenia — 50
• Miraflores, Armenia — 45
• Santines — 40
• Boyacá, Armenia — 40
• Tebaida / Montenegro — 40
• La Topasia — 33
• Guaduales, Armenia — 30
• Pijao / Comunidad Tatadrua — 25
• Circasia — 25
• Santander Bajo, Armenia — 20
• Los Quindos — 12

Volunteer vehicles, including 4×4-capable transportation, have enabled teams to reach difficult-access rural areas that had previously received little or no aid.

4. Government & Community Coordination

A coordination meeting with the Governor of Quindío and the PMU team established the prioritization framework for the next phase of distributions.

Operations will focus on underserved communities with significant humanitarian needs, particularly remote rural areas, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, economically vulnerable neighborhoods and populations identified through local beneficiary censuses.

This framework is intended to improve targeting and reduce duplication between GEM, government entities and other humanitarian actors.

Maria Alejandra Iturriaga, GEM’s local liaison in Armenia, is coordinating with community leaders who have documented beneficiary names and needs, allowing distributions to be organized based on verified local information.

Natalia Rengifo of Solidaridad por Colombia continues to provide significant volunteer support.

5. Humanitarian & Economic Impact

Field assessments indicate that humanitarian needs extend beyond physical damage to homes.

The Coffee Region is heavily dependent on tourism, and the sharp decline in visitors following the earthquake has significantly affected employment and household income. In some affected communities, families report incomes falling to approximately 10% of previous levels.

Food assistance therefore remains critical for vulnerable households, including many families whose homes remain standing but whose livelihoods have been severely disrupted.

6. Logistics & Regional Operational Structure

GEM is operating a regional hub-and-spoke model designed to expand geographic coverage while maintaining local operational capacity and low overhead.

GEM currently has zero-cost warehouse capacity in Cali, Armenia and Manizales, substantially reducing fixed operational expenses.

Regional Leadership:

• Pereira: Daniela and Juan Pablo
• Armenia: Martin Bedoya
• Chocó & Antioquia: Jorge Toro
• Regional Oversight: Simon

On Tuesday, Simon will travel to Chocó with Jorge Toro to initiate the next phase of operations. Jorge will serve as the primary operational contact for Chocó and Antioquia.

GEM continues to leverage donated facilities, volunteer vehicles, local businesses and partner organizations to minimize warehouse, staffing and vehicle costs. Transportation expenses remain a consideration due to the geographic distance between operational hubs and affected communities.

Future Logistics

This week, GEM has two charter flights scheduled to transport an additional 90 metric tons of humanitarian aid to Colombia.

In parallel, GEM is mobilizing cargo for a Colombian Navy humanitarian vessel, currently en route to the U.S. Coast Guard terminal in Miami for loading. The maritime movement will include 19 twenty-foot containers and approximately 200 additional pallets of humanitarian aid.

These movements will significantly expand GEM’s logistics pipeline and support the next phase of distributions across priority earthquake-affected regions.

7. Priority Communities / Distribution Expansion

Upcoming distributions will continue throughout Armenia and surrounding Coffee Region municipalities, including Calarcá, Circasia, Filandia, La Tebaida, Montenegro, Pijao, Quimbaya, Barcelona and Retén Murillo, as well as surrounding rural communities.

Within Armenia, targeted areas include Altos de Monserrate, Los Quindos, Villa Ximena, Bosques de Viena, Cincuentenario, Miraflores, Santa Helena Carrillera, Belencito, Boyacá, El Paraíso, Guaduales, La Cecilia, Salvador Allende Bajo, Santander and Ciudadela Cuyabra/Miranda.

Priority populations include the Tatadrua community in Pijao, Kichwa Indigenous communities, Dachi Nabe Drua, Danadrua, Aizama Buenavista, Ibana Kuara Pijao and Afro-descendant communities, along with other underserved populations identified through local census data and PMU coordination.

8. Rebuilding / Early Recovery Assessment

While emergency distributions remain the immediate priority, GEM is beginning preliminary assessments for the eventual recovery and rebuilding phase.

Initial areas being evaluated include:

• Schools
• Medical facilities
• Water systems
• Critical community infrastructure

Needs will be documented and prioritized as emergency conditions stabilize and more comprehensive assessments become available.

9. Key Priorities — Next 48 Hours

• Continue targeted distributions throughout Quindío using community census data and PMU prioritization.
• Maintain access to remote rural, Indigenous, Afro-descendant and other underserved communities.
• Coordinate onward movement of incoming aid through Armenia and regional hubs.
• Continue distributions throughout Pereira, Manizales and the broader Coffee Region.
• Deploy Simon and Jorge Toro to Chocó to initiate the next operational phase.
• Maintain the zero-cost / low-cost logistics structure through donated warehouses, local partners and volunteers.
• Continue documenting beneficiary needs, completed distributions and critical infrastructure damage.
• Begin identifying potential recovery projects involving schools, medical facilities, water systems and other community infrastructure.

10. Operational Outlook

GEM’s Colombia response is transitioning into a distributed regional structure capable of simultaneously supporting the Coffee Region, Valle del Cauca, Pereira, Manizales, Chocó and Antioquia.

The combination of regional hubs, donated warehouse capacity, community-based beneficiary data, local leadership and volunteer transportation is allowing GEM to increase humanitarian reach while maintaining operational efficiency.

The immediate focus remains food security and targeted emergency assistance, while assessments continue for the eventual transition into longer-term recovery and rebuilding.

GEM Colombia Earthquake Response | SITREP #6 | August 23, 2026

11. Cumulative Data

As of August 21, 2026, GEM’s Colombia Earthquake Response has mobilized 406 pallets of humanitarian assistance with a total value of $3,061,684.78. The response has moved 416,073 pounds / 188.73 metric tons of aid into Colombia across 6 cargo planes. GEM LATAM Colombia – 8.21.26 Stats.pdf

Key cumulative relief figures include 23,855 GEM Family Necessity Kits, 2,500 locally procured food kits, 24 generators, 44 tool kits, 219 shelter-supply units, 12,960 candles, 132 cases of water. 

To date in August, GEM has supported 69,769 people through food and hydration assistance and 1,374 people through non-food item distributions.