Buildings collapse as earthquake shakes Venezuela, ‘heavily injured’

A powerful earthquake struck the west of Venezuela’s capital on Wednesday afternoon, toppling buildings in Caracas and prompting scientists to estimate “high risks and extensive damage” in the South American country.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas, and a 7.5 magnitude tremor struck less than a minute later, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

“High casualties and extensive damage are possible and the disaster is widespread,” the USGS said, with a preliminary estimate of possible deaths between 10,000 and 100,000.

Authorities did not immediately provide death or injury estimates. “Some buildings have collapsed (in Caracas), houses have collapsed,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on state television.

The video shows emergency workers climbing through the rubble of one of the collapsed buildings in the capital as night falls.

Many Venezuelans were at home when the earthquake struck, celebrating a public holiday commemorating the 1821 military victory that secured Venezuela’s independence from Spain.

“When it started, we started hearing people screaming,” said Astrid Ramirez, 41, a media spokesperson in western Caracas. “Everybody was running down the stairs.”

Venezuela sits on a seismically active tectonic zone where the Caribbean Plate collides with the South American Plate.

Residents of the capital, which was also hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 1967, rushed to evacuate as the quake shook buildings.

“There was a very big accident. Things fell in the house, the jugs were inside the refrigerator. I have never experienced anything like this,” said Coro Martinez, 56, who lives in the east of Caracas.

Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her out. “This earthquake was terrible, worse than the one in 1967,” he added.

Fire trucks could be seen on the streets of the capital, and the facades of some buildings were badly damaged.

The US Tsunami Warning System issued a tsunami threat to Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands following the earthquake, adding that islands off the coast of Venezuela – Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire – could also be hit by dangerous waves. It lifted the warning within an hour.