A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked central Venezuela on Wednesday, shaking buildings in the capital Caracas, causing structural collapses, and sending tremors as far as neighboring Colombia. According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the seismic event struck at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST), centered near the town of Montalbán, with a shallow depth of just 13.2 kilometers. Shallow earthquakes of this magnitude typically amplify ground shaking and increase the risk of widespread damage to infrastructure.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello confirmed in an appearance on state television that multiple buildings had collapsed in Caracas, matching on-the-ground accounts from witnesses. Local residents rushed to evacuate buildings immediately as the tremor hit, with one witness telling Reuters that visible cracks spread across their apartment walls and windows shattered during the quake. Photographic evidence captured by an Agence France-Presse photographer shows one prominent Caracas building, identified locally as a bank, reduced to rubble.
Tremors from the quake were felt hundreds of kilometers away in Bogotá, the capital of neighboring Colombia, where local authorities ordered precautionary evacuations of many public and commercial buildings as a safety measure. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System has issued active tsunami threats for coastal regions of Venezuela, Aruba, and Bonaire, while tsunami advisories remain in effect for Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands.
This is an ongoing developing breaking news story, with emergency response teams still conducting initial damage and casualty assessments. Additional updates will be published as more official information becomes available. Readers can access real-time updates via the BBC News mobile app, or by following the BBC Breaking News account on X.