June 24 (Reuters) – A strong earthquake shook north-central Venezuela on Wednesday afternoon, west of the capital Caracas, with residents in neighboring Colombia also reporting feeling tremors.
The earthquake registered at a magnitude 7.1 in Venezuela, about an hour west of Valencia at a depth of 13 km (8 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Many Venezuelans were at home when the quake hit, celebrating a public holiday commemorating an 1821 military victory which secured Venezuela’s independence from Spain.
Residents in Caracas rushed to evacuate as the quake shook buildings.
Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner on the south side of Caracas, said that the police helped her evacuate her building. “This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967,” she added.
According to videos from Reuters witnesses, fire trucks were on the streets in Caracas, and the facades of some buildings had suffered significant damage.
Many residents in Caracas lost power or internet service right after the quake.
One witness said that cracks had formed up the side of their apartment and glass in the entryway had shattered. Power went down shortly after, the witness added.
“Several walls in my building broke open or cracks formed,” a witness in Valencia, to the west of Caracas, told Reuters. “As soon as it stopped (shaking) my husband and I evacuated.”
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami threat for Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands following the earthquake, adding that islands off the coast of Venezuela — Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire — could also be hit by hazardous waves.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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