Strong quake strikes southwest Colombia

A strong magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck in the Andes mountains of south-west Colombia Sunday but there were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage, Colombian and US earthquake monitoring services reported. The quake struck at 1631 GMT some 20 kilometers east of the Colombian town of La Vega and 326 kilometers north-east of Quito, Ecuador, said the US Geological Service, which monitors earthquakes worldwide. In Colombia, the National Seismological Network reported the same magnitude and said the epicenter of the quake was 169 kilometers underground. The director of Colombia's disaster relief service, Carlos Ivan Marquez, said that so far there were only reports of minor damage to homes in one village. In Colombia the quake was felt in 10 central and western provinces. There was no tsunami alert. The quake shook Ecuador's capital Quito and other parts of the country for about 30 seconds, and was felt particularly in tall buildings in the capital. Radio stations in Ecuador interrupted their broadcasting to report on the quake, which also prompted many posts on Twitter. Both Colombia and Ecuador are located in a region prone to seismic activity.