Earthquake of 7.4-magnitude shakes Colombia and Ecuador

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, shaking the South American nation and neighbouring Ecuador and prompting people to evacuate homes and buildings.

The epicentre was in San Jose Del Palmar, a municipality in the Choco region about 400km west of Colombia’s capital, Bogota, the US Geological Survey and Colombia’s counterpart reported. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 107km.

Choco governor Nubia Córdoba said on social media that in the regional capital, “there are injuries and serious damage to buildings”, without providing further details.

The temblor follows two back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes in Venezuela in late June. Those earthquakes destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed more than 5,000 people.