Mag 7.5 quake strikes Ecuador/Peru border

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno says preliminary reports indicate no major damage from a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck the Peru-Ecuador border region.

A deep magnitude 7.5 earthquake has struck the Peru-Ecuador border region, causing tremors that the Ecuadorian president said were felt around the country.

The quake's epicentre was in a sparsely populated area 224km east-southeast of Ambato, Ecuador, at a depth of 132km, the United States Geological Survey said.

The USGS's initial reading assessed the quake, which occurred at 5.17am local time on Friday, at magnitude 7.7.

There was no risk of a tsunami being triggered, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, and there were no initial reports of casualties or damage.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said on Twitter that preliminary reports "do not indicate major damage", though he added that provincial response teams had been activated and that the tremors had been "felt throughout the country".

One resident in Cuenca, Ecuador, 253km from the epicentre, described the temblor as very strong, while a second resident there reported experiencing "a good 30-second shake", according to witness statements on the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre website.

A 7.8 magnitude quake in Ecuador killed around 700 people in 2016.