Major 7.3 earthquake strikes northern Venezuela, causing minor damage - Largest quake in 118 years

RT
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 21:43 UTC

© REUTERS

People evacuate a building following tremors in Caracas after an earthquake hit the Northern Venezuela coast

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 has struck the northern coast of Venezuela, forcing the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to briefly issue a warning for coastal areas within a 300 km radius of the epicenter.

The deep jolt, registered by USGS at depth of 123 km, was most strongly felt around the Gulf of Paria area but has also shaken buildings in the capital, Caracas. However, according to the Venezuelan Seismological Research Foundation, the earthquake was somewhat smaller and a lot more shallow, measuring 6.3 in magnitude and less than a kilometer deep.

After issuing an initial tsunami warning for the Venezuelan coast and neighboring Trinidad & Tobago, as well as Grenada, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) updated its alert, noting that "there is no tsunami threat from this earthquake." People along the coast are still asked to "remain observant" and to exercise "caution" near the sea. Sea fluctuations "up to 30 cm" above or below normal tide may still take place over the course of the next few hours along the coastal areas, the PTWC advised.

© Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

Part of the abandoned skyscraper Torre de David leans precariously in Caracas after the quake.

In addition to Caracas, the jolts impacted Margarita, Maracay, Vargas, Lara, Tachira, Zulia, Maturin and Valencia, among other areas.

Authorities have now begun assessing the damage from the quake, a video tweet from Paramedicos Viales showed.

Addressing the nation on television, Venezuela's Interior Minister and the Commander-General of the National Guard, Nestor Reverol, noted that so far there weren't any reports of victims. Caracas, he said, is now coordinating with local governors to assess the damage from the quake. "There are some structural faults in some buildings," the minister noted.

Comment: According to USGS, there have been 17 previous earthquakes with magnitude of over 6 in the region, though large earthquakes are rare. Tuesday's quake was the largest within 155 miles (250 kilometers) of this location in over a century. See our Earthquakes topic section for more recent increased seismic activity.

Now for the big question: is it 'just a coincidence' that this quake strikes Venezuela, and not far from Caracas, at this time? Socio-political upheaval mirrored in planetary upheaval?

Or could there have been some measure of 'direction' (as we suspect happened with the Haiti earthquake in 2010)?

At the very moment this one struck, Venezuela's leaders were celebrating a "revolutionary" new economic plan they hope will rescue Venezuela's stricken economy:

According to Associated Press, the confusing moments after the quake were captured on state television as Diosdado Cabello, one of Venezuela's most powerful politicians, was delivering a speech at a pro-government rally. "Earthquake!" many members of the audience cried, pointing to the ground, as Cabello and others looked from side to side.

Here it is here; around the 2-min mark: