More than 111 people were killed and hundreds injured after a powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, flattening buildings and causing widespread destruction as authorities warned the death toll could rise.
The epicenter was in San Jose Del Palmar, a municipality in the Choco region about 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Colombia's capital, Bogota, the U.S. Geological Survey and Colombia's counterpart reported. The USGS said it struck at a depth of 66 miles (107 kilometers).
It was felt in Ecuador and as far away as Panama to the north, and prompted building evacuations in Bogota, AFP reporters saw.
Colombia's Geological Service said Monday's quake was the country's strongest recorded "in the 21st century," and that it was followed by 21 less powerful aftershocks.
Colombia's Pacific region around the quake's epicenter lies along the "Ring of Fire," the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur. The Pacific, particularly the Choco region, is one of Colombia's poorest, nestled in dense jungle. Much of Choco is only reachable by boat or plane, which may pose a problem for authorities in assessing the wider toll.
