Large earthquake hits western Colombia causing damage

A powerful earthquake, initially measured at magnitude 7.4, has struck Colombia. Tremors were also felt in neighboring Ecuador, as well as in Panama and Venezuela.

A powerful earthquake shook western Colombia early on Monday morning, with reports of the tremors being felt in the capital Bogota and even far south across the border in Quito in Ecuador. 

The epicenter was on the eastern tip of the Choco province on Colmbia's Pacific coast.

"We have just experienced a severe seismic event in the department of Choco. We are concerned about aftershocks," the governor of the Choco region, Nubia Carolina Cordoba-Curi, said online.

"Although the epicenter was in San Jose del Palmar, in the capital Quibdo there are injuries and severe damage to buildings. We are already conducting the damage assessment to issue the first official report," Cordoba-Curi said. Quibido is home to around 150,000 people.

What do we know about the quake's size and location? 

The US Geological Survey initially measured the quake at magnitude 7.4, although Colombia's national authority logged a smaller figure. 

The epicenter was located just south of the Tatama National Nature Reserve, near Choco's eastern state border.

The epicenter was roughly equidistant from Colombia's three main cities, Bogota to its east, Medellin to its north and Cali to its south. 

The closest major population center, Cartago, is home to about 140,000 people and around 30 kilometers (roughly 20 miles) from the quake's epicenter. 

The USGS said the quake was also quite deep, striking around 107 kilometers below the ground. It estimated that most of the western half of Colombia would feel the tremors. 

Tremors could also be felt in neighboring Ecuador, and as far away as Panama and Venezuela.

Edited by: Rebecca Staudenmaier

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