Once the ground stopped shaking, UNDSS colleagues had to establish who was safe, which buildings could be occupied and how best to reach colleagues cut off by damaged communications. The 26 August earthquake, centred in Chocó, was felt across Colombia, with Quibdó, Pereira and Cali among the cities most affected.
Colleagues had to assess whether they could safely return to their homes and workplaces. Humanitarian response teams needed to reach affected areas and stay in contact. Staff who had been affected themselves still had to support the humanitarian response. The event also raised questions about what could be done differently next time.
Getting there and staying connected
From Quibdó, UNDSS regional security officer Melvin Chavez coordinated the arrival of a UNDSS-ISW team travelling from Bogotá through Pereira. The group included a security officer, a fire safety officer, a radio specialist and a stress counsellor.
The long journey was exacerbated by damaged roads.
“Colombia is a country with extensive dimensions. It took over two days for the team to come from Bogotá to Quibdó by land,” Mr. Chavez recalled.
On arrival, the team began checking staff residences and UN premises. More than 60 UN colleagues were based in Quibdó, some having seen their homes severely damaged or destroyed. UNDSS worked alongside a structural engineer assigned by the local authorities to assess which buildings people could safely occupy.
However, it was the impact on colleagues that stayed with Mr. Chavez.
“People who work for the UN for years, who have built their lives in the region and then had their houses damaged by the earthquake,” he said. “Personally, the feeling of helplessness left a mark on me.”
A new problem arose: collapsed antennas had cut radio contact with Bogotá for three days. The radio specialist and firefighter deployed from Bogotá worked to restore the system. They also repaired three VHF repeaters, improving communications across the affected areas. A Starlink terminal and generator enabled the group to stay connected where normal systems had failed.
The work centred on immediate needs: checking buildings, restoring communications and helping colleagues to continue working safely.
The people responding
The four UNDSS stress counsellors—Andrea Angulo, Jorge Jaramillo, Johan Gualteros and Nargy Lugo—immediately began supporting colleagues, day and night.
Across Colombia, colleagues were able to access online counselling sessions, practical guidance and field visits. Drawing on materials previously used in Venezuela, UNDSS adapted the guidance to the Colombian context. UNDSS also activated its network of Peer Helpers, UNSMS colleagues trained in psychological first aid who offer immediate support and help identify people in need of further assistance.
In Cali, where the earthquake caused extensive structural damage, Ms. Angulo met individually with approximately 100 UNSMS personnel. These conversations gave colleagues an opportunity to openly discuss their feelings, anxieties and experiences of the earthquake and its impacts on their lives, face to face, with a mental health professional.
“Colleagues often have a double role during emergencies like this. They were affected by the earthquake and then had to start providing the humanitarian response immediately,” said Ms. Angulo. “Many of them had nowhere to live because their houses were badly damaged, and yet they were providing the response to others.”
The first days passed. The need did not.
One month after the earthquake, the UNDSS Stress Counselling team is preparing to return to Quibdó and Cali to meet colleagues who may still need support and connect them with longer-term care.
Learning from what happened
During the immediate response, UNDSS was already gathering lessons for responses to future earthquakes.
A pre-planned mission by the UNDSS HQ Physical Security Section was brought forward. Viktoriya Tymoshenko and Decio Leao travelled to Cali to support rapid assessments before joining the training in Bogotá.
In Bogotá, 20 security professionals from across Colombia gathered for a five-day Physical Security Training Course, which included seismic assessment and preparedness for the first time.
For some participants, the earthquake was still close to home. One participant from Cali spoke about colleagues questioning whether it was safe to return to their workplace.
During the training week, another seismic event triggered the evacuation of a UN building in Bogotá.
The lesson was no longer theoretical.
One response, many teams
The UNDSS response moved from Quibdó to Cali to Bogotá and across Colombia. It involved security officers, engineers, firefighters, radio specialists, stress counsellors, Peer Helpers and physical security specialists. One month later, damaged homes, difficult memories and questions about safe return still weighed on colleagues. UNDSS was still supporting them, while also using lessons from Chocó, Cali and Bogotá to strengthen preparedness for the next emergency.
The immediate response was over, but the work continues.
