People in Caracas were quick to evacuate during the earthquake, with one witness reporting that cracks appeared in their apartment and glass shattered, Reuters reported.
One photograph taken by an Agence France-Presse journalist shows a building, believed to be a bank in Caracas, in ruins.
Residents in neighbouring Colombia are reported to have felt the earthquake in the capital of Bogota, where some people were evacuated as a precaution.
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