7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Venezuela: buildings collapse in Caracas as U.S. issues Caribbean tsunami warning

Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday night, just one minute apart, leaving buildings and homes collapsed in Caracas and other cities in central Venezuela. The tremor, which was also felt in Colombia, Curaçao, and Aruba, triggered tsunami warnings for several areas in the Caribbean.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported an initial earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1—a figure it later revised to 7.2— at 6:04 p.m. local time, with its epicenter off the Caribbean coast, west of Morón, at a depth of 13 kilometers. One minute later, the agency recorded a second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5, at a depth of 10 kilometers and with an epicenter 16 kilometers southwest of Morón. Both are among the strongest to have struck the country in more than a century.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for the coasts of Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and predicted waves along the coasts of Venezuela, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Aruba.

In Caracas, residents evacuated swaying buildings and remained on the streets. Landslides were reported in the Altamira and Palos Grandes neighborhoods, and a Bancaribe bank branch collapsed. The Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, the country’s main airport, sustained damage and rescheduled operations; videos showed passengers running for cover as the terminal shook. Users in Caracas, Miranda, and La Guaira also reported outages in telecommunications services, particularly from the carrier Movistar.

According to the official statement released by the Ministry of Communication and Information, the earthquake was felt in the states of Yaracuy, Lara, Mérida, Aragua, Carabobo, La Guaira, and Miranda, as well as the Capital District. Citizen reports compiled by local media expanded that list to include states such as Falcón, Zulia, Táchira, Barinas, Portuguesa, Guárico, Anzoátegui, Sucre, Monagas, Bolívar, and Delta Amacuro, although there was no official confirmation.

Many Venezuelans were at home during a holiday commemorating the Battle of Carabobo in 1821. As of the time of this report, the interim authorities had not provided an official casualty toll, although preliminary reports circulated of people injured in Guatire, Miranda state, which have not been confirmed. Some gave chilling accounts of the events.

"It was unbelievable; I don’t even know how long it lasted. I was on the top floor. A lot of things fell from some of the stores. We went out through the emergency stairs; that’s how they got us out,” AFP reported that Heidi Romero, a 42-year-old shopkeeper, told the agency after evacuating a shopping mall in the capital.

VOZ received several videos from residents in Caracas showing firsthand the intensity of the earthquake. One of the people who sent in a video said: “This was horrible. It lasted forever; I felt like the building’s walls were coming apart”. The video, which lasted about 50 seconds, showed residents leaving their apartments and standing in doorways or rushing down the stairs. Several videos circulated on social media showing cracks in the asphalt of several major roads, completely collapsed buildings, injured people, and Venezuelans running to help others or seeking shelter and assistance.

This is a developing story