Terrifying footage shows the moment a nearly century-old Catholic church collapsed as a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake rattled western Colombia Monday, killing at least 22 people.
People gather in the street next to debris outside a damaged building following a magnitude-7.4 earthquake on Monday, August 10, 2026, in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. A church spire also collapsed during the tremor. Paula Sandi / SWNS
People gather in the street next to debris outside a damaged multi-story building following a magnitude-7.4 earthquake on Monday, August 10, 2026, in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. A church spire also collapsed during the tremor. (Paula Sandi / SWNS) Paula Sandi / SWNS
In the video, the spire of Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Rosary in Manizales can be seen falling off and smashing into the ground before crumbling to rubble in front of stunned bystanders.
Cops held devastated worshippers back from the scene as a cloud of dust filled the sky.
The cathedral dates back to the 1920s and is the tallest spire in Colombia, and one of the highest neo-Gothic churches in the Americas, at roughly 390 feet.
A woman runs as infrastructure crumbles in the aftermath of Colombia’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake Monday. Paula Sandi / SWNS
The epicenter of the earthquake, which is the strongest recorded in Colombia in the past decade, was near San Jose del Palmar in the Choco department, according to the Colombian Geological Service.
Debris lies outside a damaged multi-story building in the aftermath of a magnitude-7.4 earthquake on Monday, August 10, 2026, in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. Paula Sandi / SWNS
Further buildings collapsed in other major cities, including Cali, Pereira, and Quibdo.
