TMCnet News
Moderate quake shakes Caracas, gov't calls for calmCaracas, Apr 5, 2009 (EFE via COMTEX) -- A moderate earthquake shook Caracas and its environs Sunday afternoon but so far there have been no reports of injuries or significant damage, although because there were some incidents of public panic the government issued a call for calm. Just a few minutes after the quake, which struck at 1:54 p.m. (2024 GMT), Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami told state-run VTV television in a phone call that some people "are evacuating residences" and he urged the public not to panic. Later, the minister said in another telephone call that Funvisis, the state-run seismological research foundation, had reported the quake to have been measured at magnitude 4.3 on the Richter scale and that its epicenter had been located in the La Guaira area in the neighboring coastal state of Vargas. Several of the six mayors of Caracas municipalities also spoke with other media outlets to say that no reports of damage or injuries had been received in their jurisdictions and they, too, called on the public to remain calm. The temblor was slightly less powerful than the magnitude-4.5 quake that struck far northeastern Venezuela on March 28 causing a certain amount of alarm in the area although no injuries or damage were reported there either. Funvisis classified the quake as "moderate," adding that it resulted from the ongoing collision of continental and marine tectonic plates. EFE ar/bp |