A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday, forcing people to evacuate their homes and offices as far away as the capital, Caracas.

The US Geological Survey reported that Tuesday's quake had a depth of 76 miles (123 kilometers) and its epicenter was about 12 miles (20 kilometers) northwest of the Venezuelan city of Yaguaraparo.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that the deep earthquake could lead to small tsunami waves along the country's coastline.

The abandoned Torre de David skyscraper in Caracas suffered notable damage in Tuesday's quake

It remains unclear just how much damage was caused by the earthquake.

A witness in Cumana, one of the biggest cities near the quake's epicenter, said several people were injured in a shopping center when an escalator collapsed, although there appeared to be no immediate signs of further damage in the vicinity.

It is thought that the quake occurred deep enough below ground to have dampened most of the shaking. Nevertheless, reports suggest that the rumbles were also felt as far away as the Colombian capital, Bogota, in the east and the nearby islands of Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia to the northwest.

Watch video 01:35 Share Venezuela's crisis Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/32fkc What has brought Venezuela to the brink of collapse?

Local television also captured how the quake interrupted Diosdado Cabello, the head of Venezuela's all-powerful Constituent Assembly in Caracas, as he was delivering a speech.

The strong tremors also briefly halted a pro-government rally in the capital in support of a series economic measures introduced on Monday by President Nicolas Maduro.

"I’m relieved that it doesn’t seem like damage was that bad," telemarketing worker Sheny Fuentes told the Reuters news agency. "We would have been even more affected (given Venezuela’s economic crisis) — there are already people eating from the garbage and buildings aren’t well made."

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Iconic image Each day 30,000 to 40,000 people cross the 315-meter-long (1,000-foot-long) Simon Bolivar bridge (pictured) between Venezuela and Colombia. Since September 2015 some 20 million Venezuelans have crossed into the neighboring Colombian province of Norte de Santander, says its governor William Villamizar. At the same time, he adds, 17 million individuals have been registered as entering Venezuela.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Shopping over the border Most Venezuelans come to Colombia to stock up on basic food stuff and medicine. It is cheaper there than in their own country, where inflation has spiraled out of control and made the Bolivar, Venezuela's currency, nearly worthless. Some 3 million citizens are thought to have permanently migrated to Colombia.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Refugiados welcome? Colombians initially welcomed fleeing Venezuelans with open arms, just like Germans welcomed refugees in summer 2015. But now, experts say, the mood has shifted. Many have begun demanding the government provide less financial support to refugees and instead invest more in helping ordinary Colombians. However, aid for refugees is still provided in reception centers (above).

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Heading south According to official figures, approximately 1 million Venezuelan nationals currently reside in Colombia. Given that a total of 3 million Venezuelans crossed into Colombia, about 2 million must have traveled onward. In the first half of 2018 alone, over 500,000 of them migrated to Colombia's southern neighbor Ecuador.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Stopover in Ecuador Ecuadorian authorities estimate that only 20 percent of Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the country in 2018 permanently settled there, like this family living in a makeshift camp near the capital, Quito. Most Venezuelans presumably intend to keep on traveling southward and reach either Peru, Chile or Argentina.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Hitting the brakes After several days when some 5,000 Venezuelans wanted to cross from Colombia into Ecuador, Quito began demanding that Venezuelan nationals show valid passports to emigrate, rather than just an ID as was previously needed. This new regulation applies to adults. For children, proof of paternity and parental passports is enough to let them cross the border.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Chain reaction After Ecuador Peru followed suit, announcing it would implement the same regulation in the near future. Peruvian Interior Minister Mauro Medina said that about 80 percent of Venezuelan refugees arrive with valid passports, but many Venezuelan NGOs warn that passports have now become luxury items in the crisis-stricken country, requiring large sums of cash or high-level contacts to acquire one.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Tension in the air More than 100,000 Venezuelans have migrated to Brazil since 2016, most of them to the country's north. From there, roughly half them travel onward to Ecuador and Peru. The situation in northern Brazil is tense: The country's government has said it will redistribute Venezuelan immigrants to other regions. Critics have accused the government authorities of failing to support Brazil's border region.

The perilous flight out of Venezuela Attacks and confrontations Last weekend, local residents in the Brazilian border town of Pacaraima attacked makeshift camps housing Venezuelan refugees. They set their dwellings on fire and drove hundreds back across the border. Media reports say Brazilian police did nothing to stop the mob violence. The attack was said to be triggered by the robbery of a Brazilian businessman — a crime allegedly committed by refugees. Author: Jan D. Walter



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dm/rc (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)