1967 Caracas earthquake

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1967 Caracas earthquake
Date 29 July 1967 (1967-07-29)
Magnitude 6.5 Ms
Epicenter 10°41′N 67°24′W / 10.68°N 67.4°W / 10.68; -67.4Coordinates: 10°41′N 67°24′W / 10.68°N 67.4°W / 10.68; -67.4
Countries or regions Venezuela, Caracas
Casualties 236

The 1967 Caracas earthquake occurred on 29 July 1967 at 20:00 local time, and was centered near the coast about 30 miles west of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela with a magnitude of 6.5.[1] When the earth stopped shaking, about 240 inhabitants were dead and hundreds injured and buried in the rubble where homes and offices once stood. More than $100 million property damage was incurred in the Caracas area,[2] and about 80,000 persons were left homeless.

Damage was extensive in the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes sections of Caracas where four major apartment buildings, 10 to 12 stories high, collapsed.[2] Many additional structures were severely damaged and several had to be razed and reconstructed.

Huge sections of walls fell from buildings, flattening cars below and leaving large portions of structures exposed. Rescue workers used cranes and bulldozers to search through the rubble for survivors or victims of the earthquake. A week after the shock, rescue operations continued for persons believed trapped beneath the floors of the coast resort hotel, Mansion Charaima.

Maracay, about 50 miles west of Caracas, reported five deaths and 100 injuries. Several additional towns reported structural damage.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sistema de Teleinformación de Sismología Histórica de Venezuela. "Event record" (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 February 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Today in Earthquake History: July 29". United States Geological Survey. October 2, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012. 


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