La Paz - A powerful earthquake devastated parts of central Bolivia early yesterday, leaving at least 17 people dead, 30 injured and 100 missing, radio reports and rescue sources said.
The quake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, struck at around 1 a.m. (4 a.m. Irish time) some 600km (380 miles) east of the capital in the province of Cochabamba.
Buildings were "reduced to rubble in a matter of minutes," a reporter at the scene told local radio.