The United States government is “closely monitoring” the earthquake that has struck Colombia and “stands ready to support”, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, writes BBC.

He advises US citizens in Colombia to register their presence online with the US State Department and follow official channels for the latest information.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has released a shake map of the 7.4 magnitude quake that struck western Colombia. It shows that the epicentre occurred 107km deep in San Jose del Palmar, in the nation's Chocó region, with both “strong” to “very strong” shaking recorded across a much a wider area.