People look for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. [AFP]
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."
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.