BUENOS AIRES, August 10. /TASS/. Rescuers and local residents are searching for people who may be trapped under the rubble of buildings destroyed in an earthquake in Colombia, Caracol TV reported.

Authorities said that at least three buildings were destroyed by the earthquake in Quibdo. Six people may be trapped beneath the rubble of one of them. Serious damage has also been reported in Pereira.

The powerful earthquake was felt in nine departments and all 32 of Colombia’s departmental capitals, Javier Pava, director of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, said. "At the moment, we are receiving information from nine departments where [the earthquake] was felt particularly strongly. We have reports from all 32 regional capitals, where evacuations have been carried out and damage recorded," he said on Caracol Radio.

According to the official, municipal authorities are conducting an initial on-site assessment. Earlier, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center reported that a magnitude-6.8 earthquake had been registered in Colombia. Authorities have reported casualties but did not specify their number.