Magnitude 7.4 Colombia Earthquake Kills 290, Challenges New President

By Sue Kientz

Last Monday, August 10, 2026, Colombia was hit by a devastating magnitude 7.4 earthquake (1) centered in San José del Palmar, due west of Colombia’s capital Bogotá. At this writing, reports are that 290 people are dead, around 4,000 injured, with 140 missing. Rescue teams continue to clear away what remains of damaged and collapsed buildings at the epicenter and in two nearby cities especially affected, Cali and Pereira. (2) Humanitarian operations that began only a few days ago are expanding swiftly; for example, a stadium in Bogotá is already operating as a sorting and distribution center for essential donations to earthquake victims.

When disaster strikes, it’s common for people to wonder and even seek answers to why this happened at this particular moment of time and place. One line of inquiry that astrology offers is to look at the country’s most recent founding chart, which for Colombia is July 20, 1810. (3) There we find Colombia natives have strong feelings and attachments, with Sun (27 Cancer), Mars (17 Cancer) and Mercury (8 Cancer) – all being in Cancer – revealing an emotional people who cherish family ties, home life, and heritage. The Sun is sextile (60 degrees; supportive, encouraging) Jupiter (25 Taurus), symbolic of an enjoyment of life, laughter, and good times. Indeed, the country’s mood was jubilant just days before, as Colombians elected a new president, Abelardo De La Espriella, who was sworn in three days before the earthquake struck. Even so, comparing the Earthquake chart’s planets with Colombia’s 1810 founding, one sees Saturn (14 Aries) in a challenging square (90 degrees; work, trial, effort needed) to Colombia’s Mars (17 Cancer), and dwarf planet Sedna (2 Gemini) exactly semisquare (45 degrees; troublesome, acute issues) Colombia’s Mars. Saturn symbolizes hard reality and barriers (like walls, rocks, buildings), and so, in a sense, heralds the appearance of massive problems that need great effort, strength, and the help of others to overcome. Sedna, discovered in 2003 with an orbit circling the sun of approximately 11,400 years, (4) is also symbolic of hardship and calamity, its incidents more amorphous, seemingly impossible, and therefore requiring great patience and persistence. (5) With both Saturn and Sedna affecting Mars, a lot of energy, will, and able bodies will be critical to deliver the full recovery that Colombians anxiously desire. Saturn will be moving through Aries, squaring Colombia’s Sun along the way, for the next two years, about the time needed for the most vital stages of reconstruction. 

Fortunately the country’s new leader, President De La Espriella, is showing he has the organizing mettle that his birth chart depicts. Born July 31, 1978, (6) his Mercury (13 Virgo) is conjunct (0-7 degrees; in agreement, strong trait) Saturn (6 Virgo), and Venus (8 Scorpio) is sextile Saturn, both solid markers of someone who understands and can facilitate bureaucracy and procedure to get things done. Add to that, De La Espriella’s Sun (7 Leo) is square Sedna (5 Taurus), suggesting he has experienced impossible situations before and persisted via work or sheer will (an encouraging example: Zelenskyy has Sun square Sedna). De La Espriella’s Sun is also trine (120 degrees; fortunate qualities) Neptune (15 Sagittarius), denoting an active faith and no hesitation reaching out for help. Another strength is signified by his Sun trine dwarf planet Eris (14 Aries). Eris generally represents Other People, often those who feel disenfranchised or “otherized” as well as those more community minded, but the trine in particular confers a natural charm that wins people over (two notable examples are Obama and Mandela, both with Sun trine Eris). (7) Recent reporting is that the Colombian President spoke with U.S. President Trump to appeal for tariff relief, a suspension of the most recent export fees on Colombian goods. (8) And just today, De La Espriella announced that Colombian billionaire and owner of food company Nutresa, Jaime Gilinski, whose hometown Cali is one of the cities most affected, has pledged to donate the equivalent of nearly $48 million to rebuild Cali’s hospital and schools. (9)

When President De La Espriella was inaugurated, Jupiter (8 Leo) conjoined his Sun, elevating his public stature. Now faced with this unexpected, massive disaster-recovery challenge, Uranus (5 Gemini) is sextile his Sun. Uranus, ruler of invention, reason, and higher knowledge, looks to help him further by inspiring ideas and solutions, if not his own, then those he might spark in others he appeals to for help and support.

Image caption: Star shows location of earthquake epicenter; various circles indicate recent earthquake activity, its location, and (via smaller or larger circles) size of event.

Title Image credit: United States Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000tjl2/region-info

Notes and References

1. “M 7.4 – 5 km S of San José del Palmar, Colombia,” 2026-08-10 12:34:28 (UTC), 4.844°N 76.242°W, U.S. Geological Survey, https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000tjl2/executive
2. Reuters, “7.4 Magnitude Earthquake in Colombia Kills 290 as Rescuers Search Rubble,” 16 August 2026, Mehza, https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/b125645a_7-4_magnitude_earthquake/
3. Colombia mundane chart, 20 July 1810, 6 p.m., Bogotá, Colombia, Astrodienst, https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Nation%3A_Colombia_%28Autonomy%29
4. Sedna (dwarf planet), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(dwarf_planet)
5. Kientz, S., “Treasure from the Depths,” the Sedna chapter from More Plutos that appeared in The Mountain Astrologer, Feb./March 2015 issue, pp 63-70; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Sedna-SueKientz_MtAstrol-Feb-Mar2015.pdf
6. De la Espriella, Abelardo, 31 July 1978, Bogotá, Colombia, 7 a.m. used, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelardo_de_la_Espriella
7. Kientz, S., “Eris, the Discomforting Other,” More Plutos, appeared in the Astrological Journal, Sept./Oct. 2014 issue; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Eris-SueKientz_AstrologicalJournal-Sept-Oct2014.pdf
8. CBS/AFP, “Colombian president says he asked Trump to suspend tariffs after devastating earthquake,” 15 August 2026, CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colombia-president-asks-trump-to-suspend-tariffs-after-earthquake/
9. Reuters, “7.4 Magnitude Earthquake in Colombia Kills 290 as Rescuers Search Rubble,” 16 August 2026, Mehza, https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/b125645a_7-4_magnitude_earthquake/

For more details about the angles or relationships between planets, see Lynne Hyde’s “Astrology Basics,” 12 November 2024, ANS, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-basics/