Overview
- The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Monday, August 10, had its epicenter in San José del Palmar and left people dead, thousands displaced and widespread damage to homes and public buildings in Chocó.
- Shakira traveled to Quibdó on Monday, August 17, with philanthropist Howard G. Buffett to inspect damaged schools, meet families and meet local authorities about recovery needs.
- Media outlets reported an initial $1.25 million fund drawn from Shakira, Live Nation, the FIFA/Global Citizen education fund and CAF and said the Howard G. Buffett Foundation would help rebuild ten additional schools, and those figures await full official confirmation.
- Local reporting says about 200 schools suffered some form of damage and that Fundación Pies Descalzos will coordinate reconstruction efforts, building on its roughly 20 years of work in Quibdó and a nearly finished INTAR campus.
- Restoring school buildings is intended to speed students' return to class in one of Colombia's poorest departments, and recovery will test the region's capacity and the need for sustained government and international support.