5.6-magnitude quake shakes Ecuador’s border with Colombia, no injuries or damage reported

QUITO, Ecuador – A magnitude-5.6 earthquake rattled Ecuador’s border with Colombia on Monday, shaking low-lying buildings and frightening residents in the sparsely-populated area. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 3:33 p.m. EDT, had a depth of about 10 kilometres (6 miles) and was centred about 113 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of Quito. It initially measured the quake at 6-magnitude, but downgraded it to 5.6 several hours later.

The tremor was felt in small towns on both sides of the border.

Officials in the Colombian town of Cumbal, near the quake’s epicenter, said they formed an emergency committee to survey possible damage. But so far, there were no reports of injuries in the town of 36,000 residents, the majority of them members of an indigenous tribe.

“It was really strong, every house” felt it, said Jose Diomedes Juezpesan, the town’s top official.

In the city of San Gabriel, Ecuador, near the quake’s epicenter, policeman Darwin Conde of the citizen attention brigade said residents felt the quake strongly but that there were no reports of victims.

“We are scared but fine. We have no reports of damaged houses,” he told The Associated Press.

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AP writer Cesar Garcia contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.