Buildings in the capital Caracas have been evacuated and shaking has been felt across the Caribbean

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Venezuela’s northern coast has been rocked by a powerful earthquake that was felt across the Caribbean and sent people rushing out into the streets hundreds of kilometres away in the capital, Caracas.

The United States Geological Survey said a 7.3-magnitude earthquake had struck off the South American country’s northern coast at 5.31pm local time on Tuesday, east of the city of Carúpano at a depth of 123km (76 miles). The Colombian Geological Service said it was a 7.0-magnitude quake.

The earthquake was felt more than 600km further east in Caracas, where the crisis-stricken nation’s political leaders were celebrating a “revolutionary” new economic plan they claim will rescue Venezuela’s crumbling economy but economists fear will make it worse.

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.

“I had never felt such a strong earthquake 😨,” tweeted María Ramírez Cabello, a Venezuelan journalist who was in Ciudad Bolívar at the time of the quake, alongside images of people running out of a supermarket.



Footage posted on social media by another Venezuelan journalist showed terrified residents racing out into the street after the quake struck.

Érika Ortega Sanoja (@ErikaOSanoja) [VIDEO] #Sismo en #CiudadTiuna, #Caracas, se sintió fortísimo. Vecinos en alerta en la planta baja. Todo en calma. pic.twitter.com/WY6jMd5gF7

Venezuela’s interior minster, Néstor Luis Reverol, tweeted: “We call on all of the people of Venezuela to remain calm.” Authorities were ready to deal with “any emergency”, he added.

In a short address to the nation Reverol added: “We want to inform you … that at 5.31 we had a 6.3 magnitude earthquake [that] was felt in various states of the country [including] Nueva Esparta, Sucre, Monagas, Bolívar, Delta Amacuro, Aragua, Carabobo and the capital.”

“So far there have been no reports of any victims,” the minister said.



Venezuela’s state-run broadcaster, Telesur, also reported there were no immediate reports of victims or damage.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Part of the abandoned skyscraper Torre de David leans precariously in Caracas after the quake. Photograph: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

However, photographs posted on social media showed that the “Tower of David”, a notorious and symbolic abandoned skyscraper in Caracas that featured in the television series Homeland, had been severely damaged by the quake. Buildings around the 52-floor vertical slum were reportedly being evacuated on Tuesday afternoon, according to one local journalist.



In a statement, Venezuela’s seismological research foundation (Funvisis) said it recommended “keeping calm since acts of this nature are normal in Venezuela, since we live in a seismic country”.



Edwin Rojas, the governor of Sucre, the state nearest to the epicentre, posted a video on his official Twitter in which he said he had received a phone call from the president, Nicolás Maduro, and sought to reassure citizens.

“All of the state’s 15 municipalities … felt a big impact but thank God there are no victims to mourn and no damage,” Rojas said.