BOGOTA, Jan 19 — A moderately strong earthquake struck the centre-west of Colombia today, causing material damage and possibly contributing to a death, authorities said.

"At 6.26am local time (1126 GMT/7.26pm Malaysian time) an earthquake of magnitude 5.6 was registered at a depth of 33 kilometres, located in the municipality of Ansermanuevo,” John Makario London of the Colombian Geological Service said in a media video.

He said the "intermediate magnitude” quake caused cracks or damage to the facades of some buildings.

Authorities in the town of El Aguila, near Ansermanuevo, reported the "possible death” of a woman.

The region’s secretary of risk management, Francisco Tenorio, told W Radio that the town’s mayor reported damage to the local hospital and was verifying whether the death of a woman was due to the quake.

Central Colombia is in a zone of high seismic activity. A 6.2 magnitude quake there in 1999, not far from Ansermanuevo, claimed nearly 1,200 lives. — AFP