Twin powerful earthquakes strike Venezuelan capital (VIDEOS)

Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast less than a minute apart on Wednesday, damaging multiple buildings in Caracas.

The first measured magnitude 7.2, followed shortly afterward by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.

Videos from the scene show large cracks in the walls of high-rise buildings and smoke rising from the streets. There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter was located about 21 km west of the city of Morón on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. The earthquake was felt across several regions of Venezuela, as well as in neighboring Colombia.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said several structures, including residential buildings, had collapsed in the capital’s Los Palos Grandes and Altamira neighborhoods. He added that emergency services had been mobilized to respond to the damage.

Cabello said that, apart from the capital, the earthquake had been “strongly felt” in the states of Aragua, Carabobo, La Guaira, Miranda, Trujillo, and Yaracuy.

El Diario reported several injuries in Guatire, a city east of Caracas.

A video shows people fleeing Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, near Caracas, as the earthquakes struck.

Footage posted on social media appears to show extensive damage to buildings in La Guaira, a city on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.

The deadliest earthquake in Venezuela’s recent history struck in 1967, killing around 300 people and injuring some 1,600 in Caracas. Another earthquake in the country’s northeast in 1997 killed at least 81 people.