Sunday, May 26th 04:07 AM IST

Major quake hits Colombia, no reports of death or damage

by Oct 1, 2012

BOGOTA (Reuters) – A large earthquake shook Colombia on Sunday, rattling residents in the southwest of the Andean nation, but there were no reports of deaths or major damage, authorities said.

The 7.1-magnitude quake had its epicenter in the southwestern province of Cauca with a depth of about 103 miles (167 km), Colombian officials said.

“So far there are no reports that there has been damage to any part of the country, only reports that it was felt,” Jaime Raigosa, coordinator of the National Seismological Network, said. “Fortunately, the quake was deep.”

The U.S. Geological Survey had reported a 7.4-magnitude earthquake but then downgraded it to 7.1.

The quake was felt in neighboring Ecuador but authorities reported no damage there. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that no tsunami was expected. (Reporting by Jack Kimball, Luis Jaime Acosta, Nelson Bocanegra in Bogota, Eduardo Garcia in Quito, Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott)

Firstpost encourages open discussion and debate, but please adhere to the rules below, before posting. Comments that are found to be in violation of any one or more of the guidelines will be automatically deleted:

Personal attacks/name calling will not be tolerated. This applies to comments directed at the author, other commenters and other politicians/public figures

Please do not post comments that target a specific community, caste, nationality or religion.

While you do not have to use your real name, any commenters using any Firstpost writer's name will be deleted, and the commenter banned from participating in any future discussions.

Comments will be moderated for abusive and offensive language.

Please read our comments and moderation policy before posting