Colombia quake leaves 111 dead, with more trapped under rubble

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday , killing at least 111 people, toppling dozens of buildings and reverberating in nearby countries too.



Emergency teams rushed to help victims and search for survivors under the rubble after the quake hit the coastal Choco region at 7:34am local time



The tremor, with an epicentre 100 kilometres deep in the San Jose del Palmar municipality, killed at least 40 people in the Risaralda region.



"The situation is critical," according to Mayor Mauricio Salazar of the provincial capital Pereira.



Twenty-seven people were killed in the Valle del Cauca department, and two more died in the city of Manizales, in Colombia's coffee-growing region.



The quake caused a tower of Manizales' beloved cathedral to fall over.



Choco's governor warned of serious damage in the provincial capital Quibdo, where videos showed more buildings reduced to rubbled.



The death toll in the impoverished region remains unknown.



Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela also felt the early-morning quake, which prompted building evacuations in Bogota.