Shocking Video Shows Colombian Nurse's Nerves of Steel as 7.4 Earthquake Rocks Cable Car Over Cali While Other Riders Loses Their Sh*t

A heart-pounding video circulating widely on social media captures the raw fear and unexpected composure inside a swaying cable car high above the Colombian city of Cali as a massive 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning.

The footage, timestamped and labeled “Cali 10 de agosto sismo,” was recorded aboard the MIO Cable aerial tram system just as the ground began to violently shake at 7:34 a.m. local time. The epicenter was near San José del Palmar in the Chocó department, roughly 100 miles away, but the powerful tremor, the strongest to hit Colombia in more than a decade, sent shockwaves through Cali, the country’s third-largest city.

In the roughly 40-second clip, the blue gondola lurches and sways against a backdrop of green hills and city buildings. One passenger, a man in a maroon Adidas shirt, clutches a bright red backpack tightly against his chest. His face contorts with pure terror, eyes wide, mouth twisted in a grimace as he leans forward, bracing against the motion. Another man in green medical scrubs shifts uneasily, gripping the overhead bar while glancing around the cabin with clear anxiety.

But it’s the young woman in the blue nurse’s uniform who steals the show. Seated calmly with a light gray backpack over one shoulder, she holds her smartphone in both hands and appears to scroll or check messages as if the world isn’t trembling hundreds of feet below. Her expression remains composed, almost serene, even as the cabin rocks and the landscape outside jolts. At one point she glances up briefly, then returns to her phone without a hint of panic.

“Qué miedo! Hay gente que reacciona muy bien” — “What fear! Some people react very well” — wrote the Colombian user who shared the video, capturing the national reaction to the nurse’s remarkable poise.

The MIO Cable system was immediately suspended after the quake. Metro Cali officials confirmed that all passengers were safely evacuated and that no injuries were reported on the line, though the infrastructure sustained damage that requires full technical inspections. Similar scenes of panic unfolded on the cable cars in nearby Manizales, where gondolas swung wildly and operations were halted.

The human drama inside that single cabin reflects the much larger catastrophe unfolding on the ground. President Abelardo de la Espriella, just days into office, declared a national disaster after confirming at least 111 people dead and dozens more injured. In Cali alone, more than 20 buildings collapsed, trapping residents under rubble. Hospitals were forced to evacuate patients into the streets. Search-and-rescue teams worked through the night with headlamps, pulling survivors, including a six-month-old baby and an adult who had shielded the child, from the debris.

At least 1,575 homes were damaged, 61 buildings completely collapsed nationwide, and airports in multiple cities, including Cali, were closed for structural checks. Aftershocks continued to rattle nerves for hours.

In the video, the contrast is stark and unforgettable: ordinary people facing the unthinkable with visible dread, while a trained medical professional demonstrates the calm under pressure that emergency responders rely on every day. Viewers across Colombia and beyond have flooded comments praising the nurse’s “nerves of steel,” calling her a symbol of quiet strength amid the chaos.

As rescue operations continue and the death toll remains fluid, this single smartphone recording from high above Cali has become one of the defining images of the disaster, a reminder that even in the most terrifying moments, some people rise to the occasion with extraordinary composure.