Pereira after the earthquake of 10 August 2026. A magnitude 7,4 earthquake struck western Colombia that morning, and Pereira was the worst affected of the three coffee cities. Reported figures were 93 dead, 259 injured, 260 missing and 66 collapsed structures, with more than 4.000 businesses affected and around 90 percent of hotels closed.

Matecana airport, and where it stands now. The airport closed on the day of the earthquake and resumed operations on 25 August. As of 12 September it was running at about seventy percent of normal: 43 flights a day against 60 before the earthquake, and roughly 5.500 passengers a day against 8.500. The second and third floors of the passenger building are still closed for structural damage, two of the four boarding bridges are working, and no completion date for the repairs has been published. El Eden in Armenia, by contrast, was carrying commercial flights again on 11 August and has run normally since.

What we would do. Pereira works again, so this is a preference instead of a warning. If fares and flight times are close, fly into El Eden in Armenia: it has had a normal year and sits nearer Salento and Filandia. If Matecana is materially cheaper or better timed, use it and we will collect you there. That is our judgement from running the route, not an official instruction. Our Medellin to the coffee region page sets out the road position, the airport detail and what is open. For travellers coming down from Manizales, whose own airport cannot take most flights, our Manizales to Pereira airport page gives the 59 kilometres, the tolls and the timing. Casualty and reopening figures here reached us through the press and were not published directly by the authorities that compiled them, and anything further down this page written before August describes Pereira as it was. Updated 13 September 2026.