Two strong earthquakes shook the Caribbean this Wednesday Venezuela with just 39 seconds of difference, in a seismic sequence whose main event was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, the official United States tsunami warning system reported.
The movements caused great damage in Caracas, where buildings have collapsed while others have suffered various material damages, according to EFE. No figures for injuries or deaths have been confirmed at this time.
The authorities stated that the first earthquake, initially reported with a magnitude of 7.2, was reclassified as a precursor earthquake 7.5 earthquakeafter the analysis of the seismic records.
The United States National Tsunami Warning Center explained that both tremors formed a “seismic doublet.”a phenomenon in which two large-magnitude earthquakes occur a few seconds apart in the same area, so Official information was updated to identify the 7.5 magnitude earthquake as the main event.
Members of the Fire Department carry out rescue work this Wednesday in Caracas, Venezuela, after two strong earthquakes that shook the Venezuelan Caribbean just 39 seconds apart. (EFE/ Ronald Peña R).
In addition, the Tsunami Warning System canceled the alert issued for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands after the earthquake registered near the coast of Venezuela.
The report from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) details that the first movement took place about 24 kilometers from the town of San Felipe, in the Yaracuy state, at a depth of 21.9 kilometers.
Likewise, it reported a second movement of magnitude 7.5, which occurred in the town of Yumare, in Yaracuy.
So far there is no official information in Venezuela about the magnitude or location of the earthquakes.
In a tour of the Venezuelan capital, EFE was able to show that in Plaza Altamira, in the east of the city, two buildings collapsed without any injuries or fatalities being known at the moment.
Civil Protection and Police officials from the municipality of Chacao, along with residents of the area, were searching through the rubble for possible injuries.
Other buildings located in Chacao, one of the towns that are part of the Caracas Metropolitan Area and considered a seismic zone, suffered considerable damage or cracks of various kinds.
“Suddenly that thing started to move horrible, horrible. Everything moved, things started falling in the house,” Yaritza Moya, a resident of Los Palos Grandes, in Chacao, told EFE, who said she was following the World Cup from her apartment when she was surprised by the strong tremor.
Many areas of Caracas remained without electricity, which also affected traffic lights and communications, particularly telephone and internet.
Many people remained in their vehicles or sitting in the streets for fear of aftershocks.
Videos of objects falling in the midst of the shaking, as well as damage in other areas of the country, circulated on social networks.
The last similar earthquake that occurred in Venezuela was in 2018, with a magnitude of 7.3 in the state of Sucre and affected at least ten countries in the region, including Brazil, Guyana and several Caribbean islands.
