BOGOTÁ, Aug 11: A powerful earthquake rocked Colombia and neighboring Latin American countries on Monday, with at least 18 people confirmed dead in first reports as shocked residents surveyed destroyed buildings.
Emergency teams rushed to help victims and search for survivors in the rubble after geologists recorded the quake at a magnitude of 7.4 with an epicenter 100 km (60 miles) deep in the west of the country.
The early-morning quake was also felt in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela -- itself hit by a devastating quake in late June -- and prompted building evacuations in the Colombian capital Bogota, AFP reporters saw.
News footage showed collapsed buildings across western Colombia, though officials said they did not fear a tsunami.
At least 18 people were killed in the city of Pereira alone, Mayor Mauricio Salazar told Caracol Radio, adding "the situation is critical."
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The governor of Colombia's Choco province wrote on X that there was serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where video showed collapsed buildings.
Choco was at the epicenter of the quake, and the death toll from the area was not immediately known.
Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, Colombia's third largest city, reported at least 20 buildings had collapsed and people were trapped as "major damage" that was being evaluated with drones.
News outlets aired images of buildings also destroyed in cities such as Manizales.
- 'Strong, really strong' -
"There is no electricity or cell phone coverage. It was strong, really strong. Things fell in my house," Martha Estrada, a 66 year old resident of Eje Cafetero, which means coffee-growing region, told AFP.
"The quake was very, very strong," said Valeria Polo, a 29 year old content creator in Bogota.
Six small airports in western Colombia suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said.
Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said on Blu Radio that damage in the national capital appeared to be limited to cracks in the facades of houses and buildings.
President Abelardo de la Espriella announced he would travel to the quake-hit region.
In Bogota people ran out into the street in their pajamas as emergency sirens rang out, AFP reporters saw.
Twin earthquakes in Venezuela of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on June 24 killed more than 6,000 people and caused devastating property damage.
