Powerful 6.3 magnitude quake shakes Bogota, no damage reported

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A major 6.3-magnitude earthquake lasting several seconds shook the Colombian capital of Bogota early Sunday, according to AFP reporters on the ground and the United States Geological Survey.

The shallow quake struck near the city of Paratebueno in central Colombia, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) east of Bogota, the USGS said.

No casualties were immediately reported in the tremor, also felt in cities including Medellin, Cali and Manizales.

The quake, which the Colombian national geological survey registered at magnitude 6.5, was one of the strongest and longest felt in the capital in recent years.

In Bogota buildings shook, sirens blared and people rushed out into the streets.

Scores of residents gathered in parks and outside buildings in their pajamas, with parents trying to calm frightened children and others looking for pets that had run away.

Many were afraid to go back inside.

"It was a big scare," said 54-year-old Carlos Alberto Ruiz, who left his apartment with his wife, son and dog.

"It's been a while since we felt it this strong here in Bogota," said Francisco Gonzalez, a lawyer who also fled his home.

"This was very strong," said one elderly lady trying to make her way down several flights of steps.

Bogota's security department said on X that emergency workers were conducting a sweep of the city to look for damage and provide assistance.

Bogota's mayor, Carlos Fernando Galan, said all disaster agencies had been activated.

Central Colombia is in a zone of high seismic activity. A 6.2 magnitude quake there in 1999, not far from Ansermanuevo, claimed nearly 1,200 lives.

The country is on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin to South America.

© Agence France-Presse