…as Venezuela hit by second earthquake

A TREMOR, which appeared to be an aftershock from Tuesday’s earthquake which rattled the northern coast of Venezuela, was felt in parts of Guyana on Wednesday morning, including on the coastland and as far as Bartica.

The tremor was felt around 09:30hrs and reporters attached to this newspaper at Linden and on the Essequibo Coast noted that the tremor lasted for several seconds, shorter than Tuesday’s. Residents of Bartica and Mabaruma in the North West District also reported the geological occurrence.

University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Unit seismologist Dr Joan Latchman, said that following the earthquake on Tuesday, aftershocks could be strong and could take days—even a few years—to materialise. The University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Unit measured the earthquake on Tuesday at 6.8 at a depth of 73 kilometres, but the magnitude was later upgraded to 7.0 by the United States Geological Survey. The position of the earthquake in Venezuela was placed at 55 kilometres east/south-east of Carúpano, 95 km northeast of Maturín, and 131km southeast of Porlamar.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck neighbouring Venezuela and is the second to rock the country in 24 hours. The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) said it has not received any report of local damage or injury.

The 24-hour Emergency Response Centre remains on standby.

Director-General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Lieutenant-Colonel Kester Craig, told the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday that the Hydrometeorological Service was closely monitoring the situation. In the event of an earthquake, Craig issued a few precautions.  “For earthquakes, there is a whole list of precautions that you can take, but if you are indoors, you need to drop down to the ground take cover and get under a sturdy table or piece of furniture and hold on until the shaking stops. Stay away from glass windows, do not use the doorways. So I have a whole list of precautions on my Facebook page,” he said. Many persons in Guyana and sections of the southern Caribbean reported that the tremor was the largest they had experienced.