Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.1 and 7.5 shook Venezuela and were felt in Colombia
Two earthquakes, one of magnitude 7.1 and another of 7.5, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), shook Venezuela this Wednesday, June 24, with particular intensity in Caracas, in a phenomenon technically known as a “doublet.”
The seismic events were also felt in several cities in Colombia such as Bogotá and Bucaramanga. In the Venezuelan capital, scenes of panic unfolded, and social media was flooded with videos of the destruction caused by the earthquakes.
As of Wednesday evening, Venezuelan authorities had not provided an assessment of the damage or the possible victims left by the earthquakes. In some videos, collapsed buildings can be seen in Caracas, along with witnesses claiming that people are trapped. Chaos took hold of the city.
One of the locations affected was Maiquetia International Airport Simon Bolivar, where people were running to reach safety. Buildings collapsed in neighborhoods of Caracas such as Caricuao, Montalbán, and San Bernardino.
Dramatic Testimonies from People in Caracas
“Two buildings collapsed here, look. Next to Altamira. My God! The one that was next to Altamira. The Altamira Hotel. Both buildings collapsed. My God! There must be people dead, my God! Oh no, this is horrible. This is horrible. There are injured people, there are people hurt,” a woman recounted from the streets of Caracas, unable to hide her shock.
The first reports on social media indicated that the earthquake was felt strongly in Caracas, Maracay, Valencia, Barquisimeto, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, and other cities in central and western Venezuela.
Due to the earthquake, the United States Tsunami Warning Centers warned about the possibility of dangerous waves within a radius of up to 300 kilometers from the epicenter. The advisory includes the coasts of Venezuela, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Aruba.
“Now I’m going to mass and the traffic light turns green, and people are standing still. And I honk the horn and honk the horn, I keep honking, and they move. And when I pass, about 20 meters from the building, it starts to shake. I stop the car and the building where the traffic light was located collapsed. I was standing right there,” a man recounted who witnessed a structure collapse in Caracas.
In addition, authorities indicated that there is a tsunami threat for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In Colombia, the Colombian Geological Service reported that the earthquake was recorded at 5:04 p.m. (local time), on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, with a magnitude of 7.1 and a shallow depth (less than 30 km). So far, the event has been reported as having been felt in different departments of Colombia, especially in the Caribbean region, the northeastern part of the country, and other areas of the national territory, the agency said.
Both Colombia and Venezuela are located in a seismically active region, resulting from the interaction of several tectonic plates. In this case, the magnitude of the earthquake and its shallow depth favored its being widely perceived, even at great distances from its epicenter, it added.
Due to the characteristics of this event, it is possible that aftershocks may occur in the hours or days ahead, which are a natural response to the process of stress readjustment in the area where the earthquake occurred.
Less than half an hour after the earthquake in Venezuela, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in Japan, in the Honshu region, north of Tokyo.