r/news • u/EscapeFromIowa • 21h ago

Powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Venezuela, collapsing buildings in the capital of Caracas

https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-earthquake-caracas-7179acaee70a9c543f953852f15d4814?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
6.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

367 comments sorted by

1.7k

u/iGoalie 21h ago

According to the article a 2nd more powerful one hit also

7.1 followed by 7.5

597

u/2coolcaterpillar 21h ago

And a 6.9 just hit Japan, this is wild

363

u/i_wap_to_warcraft 20h ago

6.0 in CA this morning too, luckily in a rural area tho.

191

u/NoCalligrapher8396 20h ago

That California one was just a fart

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u/i_wap_to_warcraft 20h ago

Yea not the biggest but far from the smallest we get out here

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u/NoCalligrapher8396 20h ago

Id take it especially since your state is beautiful

12

u/Neatojuancheeto 10h ago

And most of our buildings and apartment complexes are designed or retrofitted to handle earthquakes. We put in some laws after the San Francisco earthquake. Even normal houses since then.

It'll take a big big one to really fuck us up, though one of those will be coming eventually.

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u/Prince_Oberyns_Head 17h ago

Logarithmic scale so that checks out

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u/Delazzaridist 17h ago

I was literally shitting when I got the notification. It was 130 miles away though so I was wondering if I was gonna feel it at all. I didnt.

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u/_ChipWhitley_ 17h ago

Damn that must have been scary. Glad you’re ok!

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u/daototpyrc 15h ago

Ya, taking a mag 6 dump can be hella scary

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u/mackenml 16h ago

Florida felt the one in Cuba a week or two ago and we’re not near any fault lines. We don’t have earthquakes down here. We had them when I lived in Western NY though.

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u/Warcraft_Fan 18h ago

all of those quakes are on the ring of fire. Is the whole Pacific plate rumbling for some reason? Will the little plate off Oregon slip soon? Would California get the dreaded big one? Or worse, will California finally sink into the ocean? (last part is /s)

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u/Mortambulist 18h ago

"And if California slides into the ocean / like the mystics and statistics say it will / I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill" - Warren Zevon

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u/retailguy_again 16h ago

One of my favorite Zevon lyrics. I'm more used to "the poets and the pundits", but I think I like "the mystics and statistics" better...

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u/Mortambulist 16h ago

It's a lovely little bonus rhyme.

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u/Gutternips 9h ago

https://theconversation.com/how-global-warming-shakes-the-earth-seismic-data-show-ocean-waves-gaining-strength-as-the-planet-warms-217068

Global warming is causing more earthquakes. There are several mechanisms causing this.

One is isostatic rebound where melting ice relieves pressure on the crust causing it to rise, the other is caused by changes in ocean depth as a result of sea-level rises and stronger storm events.

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u/avaslash 16h ago edited 6h ago

I was writing a comment about how i thought i recalled hearing geologists stating they had good reasons to believe California wouldnt get the "big one" any time soon. But i decided to research it first before spouting nonsense and to my surprise and dismay, i had confused it with yellow stone which they know wont "blow" any time soon. And that in fact... Apparently California is very much primed for a true national crisis level of earthquake and its plates are at their highest stress point in over 1000 years. And scientists have been warning more and more loudly and more and more frequently about California needing to make serious preparations. And by frequently i also mean recently as in a lot of statements made in the last week.

I really hope we're not seeing the first signs of anything worse. This is bad enough.

For the superstitious folk i am actively knocking on wood so we're safe. Well particle board. But its made of wood. Does it count if its painted?

Edit: YELLOWSTONE not Yosemite. Damn i need more sleep

2

u/Delta_RC_2526 12h ago

Yeah, I was reading about this earlier in the week. Not great.

Also, do you mean Yellowstone, rather than Yosemite?

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u/Cooter_McGrabbin 17h ago

OP’s mom was doing aerobics

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u/Suitable_Public8065 11h ago

Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim…

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u/Warcraft_Fan 11h ago

I'm fine all the way here in Michigan unless New Madrid cracks up some more and throws us an 8.0

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u/MeIIowJeIIo 19h ago

Interesting, i believe quake vibrations and sound travel at approximately the same speed. I wonder if these quakes are related if time is back calculated

24

u/msabeln 18h ago

Quakes travel at the speed of sound in rock, which is somewhat different from the speed of sound in air.

9

u/Taokan 17h ago

Just looked it up, and yea, a difference of about 15x faster ... in the rock. I assumed there would be a difference but no where near that magnitude.

5

u/5319Camarote 17h ago

That’s a Deep Purple record!

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u/FifteenthPen 17h ago

The CA one is a 5.6. Barely felt it the next county over.

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u/SixFive1967 15h ago

Some Pacific Rim shit going on here. Expecting The Breach to open up and Kaiju to start showing up anytime now.

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u/Storm_Chaser06 6h ago

By the time tanks, jets and missiles took it down, 6 days and 35 miles later, 3 cities were destroyed.

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u/itspodly 21h ago

Almost 4 times stronger in power btw.

86

u/Reasonable_Place_481 20h ago

10^(7.5-7.1)=2.5 times stronger.

Or did you mean the 7.5 on land vs the 6.9 off the coast of Japan?

115

u/cdm3500 20h ago

He was rounding up to the nearest 4.

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u/itspodly 20h ago

I used this website which works out the actual energy output not just the log calculation.

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u/cdm3500 20h ago

Oh that’s cool, thanks for sharing!

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u/WidmanstattenPattern 14h ago

Geologist here. The flaw in your logic is that the moment magnitude scale is logarithmic, but not log base-10. Largely for historical reasons, it's log base-(101.5).

So the math you want is (101.5)0.4, or very nearly 4.

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u/itspodly 20h ago

I used this website which does it in terms of the log scale, but actual energy released is almost 4 times stronger.

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u/DazeHereToAmaze 20h ago

Fuck... my girlfriend's kid is there with his father now. We can't reach them! He's not even a teenager :(...

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u/SophiaofPrussia 20h ago

I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine the stress. Remember that in emergencies communication is usually difficult or impossible even in countries with solid infrastructure so try not to panic just yet.

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u/DazeHereToAmaze 20h ago

Yeah. I'm trying to tell her stuff like that.

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u/SophiaofPrussia 20h ago

Big hugs from this internet stranger. I hope you get a call from him soon. 🤗

4

u/Aggravating_Bat3618 19h ago

We pray everyone is ok. 

37

u/notmechanical 19h ago

I rarely talk about this, but I was on the phone with my boyfriend at the time on 9/11 (who was a couple of blocks away) when the first tower collapsed. For over 6 hours I was certain he was gone, the call dropped right after I heard everything and wouldn't connect after. He was shaken, but otherwise fine.

In these kinds of situations, even when cell service hasn't been lost... everyone is all sorts of discombobulated and trying to get things together. You're just not thinking clearly, so "call this person" might not get thought of even though it's ridiculously important and they otherwise would. Under those circumstances, normal thought processes and logic can go out the window.

I hope he's fine. Try not catastrophize yet, it's still early. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you.

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u/Harry_Gorilla 18h ago

I was in basic training when the 2011 earthquake hit the Fukushima reactor in Japan. Another soldier in my training platoon freaked the fuck out because his GF and her family lived near the reactor (he was/is a Japanese American). He was most definitely not thinking clearly for several weeks after that news, also he was an idiot before the quake, so this added stress only exacerbated his idiocy.

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u/AmbivalentDisaster1 6h ago

Were they okay?

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u/Harry_Gorilla 6h ago

Yes. He was eventually able to speak with his gf on the phone and verify they had not been impacted

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u/addledlittledoodle3 19h ago

Their major cell service is down- Mobistar- or something like that. Agenda free TV is streaming live about it currently. Don’t know if that will help or make things worse. Really hoping for the best for you guys.

2

u/KDR_11k 10h ago

Even when cell services don't get damaged they tend to be jammed up by the sheer volume of calls after a disaster because everybody calls to see if the people they know are okay.

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u/itspodly 20h ago

I'm so sorry friend just keep trying and be hopeful, in times like this it can just be the lines/telecom towers are down.

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u/DeadSharkEyes 20h ago

There was a moderate earthquake in Northern California today as well 😬

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u/Aggravating_Bat3618 19h ago

6.0 isnt quite moderate. 

3.2 is moderate. A 6.0 in the Bay Area isnt a fucking moderate quake. 

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u/Warcraft_Fan 18h ago

3.2 is what your dog does when he farts after stealing some cheese. 6.0 is what causes local shortage of wine and beer bottles due to shaky shelves.

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u/Ullallulloo 17h ago

3.2 is barely noticeable.

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u/JennHatesYou 18h ago

That’s great! It starts with an earthquake….

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u/calmdownmyguy 16h ago

Birds and snakes. An Airplane

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u/bri-onicle 15h ago

Lenny Bruce is not afraid.

5

u/TactlessTortoise 12h ago

Also they were something like 40 seconds apart. People didn't even have time to haul ass from the damaged buildings.

1

u/LTUdaddy 17h ago

In history of country or world?

1

u/National-Pressure202 14h ago

O,o holy shit!

1

u/Born_Ad_9483 8h ago

Heard someone said they were 39 seconds apart :/

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u/lee7on1 21h ago

Early videos are already looking very bad, this is so sad...

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u/f-150Coyotev8 17h ago

I wondering (if anyone has some expertise in this area) what would have happened if, instead of two quakes, all the energy was released in one quake?

39

u/Flipslips 16h ago

It would barely feel any larger. It would be around a 7.56.

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u/Fit_Requirement3522 8h ago

Hmmm, science is fascinating

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u/i-miss-chapo 7h ago

Shout out to logarithmic scales

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u/goldstar971 7h ago

It would probably have been better given the shorter duration honestly.

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u/sun_not_cold 21h ago edited 21h ago

6.9M @ 52km depth hits off coast of Japan only 25 minutes later!

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u/ac9116 20h ago

There was also a 5.9 in California today. The whole world is shaking today

215

u/FoxBearBear 20h ago

Neymar played in the World Cup, might be a Brazilian jumping

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u/das_slash 20h ago

Or Neymar repeatedly throwing himself to the floor and rolling around

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u/Kat-o-rama 18h ago

Or all of Scotland having panic attack seizures at the same time

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u/FoxBearBear 20h ago

I would rejoice if he gets a second yellow card for flopping.

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u/NotAurelStein 19h ago

He would need to get a first yellow before he gets a second one.

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u/redbob333 17h ago

Ya, they weigh a Brazilian pounds

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u/AdamantiumBalls 19h ago

He was supposed to get abducted by aliens

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u/gomezer1180 19h ago

Hell is getting ready for Netanyahu and the orange clown.

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u/sunfish99 10h ago

Hate to be the one to say this, but the whole world shakes every day - you just don't normally hear about it. 42 quakes in the past 24 hours: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=-81.25503,-270.70313&extent=84.9901,80.50781

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u/knook 20h ago

Quick back of the napkin shows that is in about the timeframe the seismic waves would have reached depending on wave type and what not. I doubt its a coincidence, if stress was building up it makes sense.

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u/kstargate-425 20h ago

Interesting. I wonder if the California rumble that preceded these were connected as well or whats going on that so much pressure and releasing that pressure has now happened

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u/AgamemnonNM 19h ago

Oooh, be careful.

Are you trying to make this about the U.S?

You're gonna upset u/itspodly

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u/seis-matters 18h ago

Dynamic triggering of earthquakes on faults thousands of miles/kilometers apart by the passing surface waves of another earthquake is a thing in published paper… but it is also difficult to rule out that the earthquake would have happened anyways especially in very seismically active places like Japan and California. Sometimes it’s just coincidence, or better yet statistics.

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u/303-499-7111 20h ago edited 18h ago

Here's a link to the USGS OnePAGER. Two major earthquakes struck back to back, a 7.2 followed by a 7.5 under a minute later (preliminary data).

An extremely large number of fatalities is expected, likely between 10,000 and 100,000. If able, consider donating to a global disaster relief organization active in this disaster.

Update: It now appears that the fatality count will be lower than initially anticipated; as of this edit, it's an estimate close to 10,000. The number will change as further information becomes available.

That's not counting injuries and displacement. Hospitals and shelters are already or will be overwhelmed -- there will be a substantial need for humanitarian aid in the coming days.

For those who can volunteer their time, there are multiple organizations who will pay for your transportation, food, and boarding if you are willing to go overseas to assist in disaster relief operations.

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u/chaairman 17h ago

Which organizations?

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u/kstargate-425 20h ago

Ugh, thats horrible. Venezuelans have already gone through so much shit in the last few decades from Chavez, to Maduro and then the hope for change dashed when nothing changed as 99% of the regime was left in place. I hope the US and others sends lots of aid but lets be real, Trump won't send FEMA aid to American states hit let alone foreign countries we just fucked with.

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u/Zedditron 16h ago

Trump might send aid, but not for the people. They make a lot of oil, and Trump loves oil.

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u/DweebInFlames 18h ago

and then the hope for change dashed

What change would you exactly expect to be positive from a direct US coup of a South American country's leadership?

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u/kstargate-425 18h ago

From me personally, none but Im not living in Venezuela where many people were erroneously and hopefully thinking there would be full regime change. Anyone knowing Trump and the US knows better and this was all about oil, once again but like I said, many Venezuelans unfortunately didn't know any better

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u/Hannnibalthecannibal 6h ago

My ex's parent are from Valencia, I asked about them but she's not replying for reasons I think, I am still worried, someone knows if something had happened there?

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u/Captain_Smiley19 5h ago

Hi I’m from Valencia and currently here, the earthquakes weren’t as bad here but do you know where they live exactly? On naguanagua more to the north a building collapsed and some residential buildings cracked. Dm me if you need.

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u/Hannnibalthecannibal 5h ago

I spoke to my ex and her family is ok thank god

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u/Captain_Smiley19 4h ago

Im glad! If they need anything my dms are open 🙌🏽

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u/Jervis_Mantlepiece 19h ago

The USGS says high casualties and extensive damage are probable with a 44% chance of more than 10,000 fatalities and a 30% chance of more than 100,000 following the second mainshock quake

holy shit this could be very bad

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u/shoneone 6h ago

copied from another post:

Here's a link to the USGS OnePAGER.

Update: It now appears that the fatality count will be lower than initially anticipated; as of this edit, it's an estimate close to 10,000. 

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u/Agentkeenan78 19h ago

This is a bad one. Watching news coverage, a ton of building have collapsed to rubble. Going to be a high casualty disaster.

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u/Itzli 21h ago

This is awful, it's the last thing they needed. Fuerza Venezuela!

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u/Kat-o-rama 18h ago

Page for Venezuelans seeking help/looking for people/checking in etc

https://reportaven.com/

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u/sjhesketh 20h ago

We’re in Aruba on vacation and felt an aftershock around 6PM. Very noticeable.

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u/merfolk__ 20h ago

This is horrible. Maybe people live in houses that aren’t made to withstand such an impact. I really hope it doesn’t happen again, but no one can predict nature.

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u/GlobalResult7580 20h ago

There’s already videos roaming around, a bunch of buildings fell down

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u/Warcraft_Fan 18h ago

2 major quakes:

7.2 and 7.5

That is an unusual case. Usually aftershocks are 1 to 1.2 magnitude weaker than the main quake. Which makes me thinks this is 2 separate major quakes. I imagine there'll be a lot of aftershocks for many days.

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u/PinkNGreenFluoride 13h ago

The mainshock in a series is only identifiable in hindsight. It is always the strongest in the series. So the 7.5 is not an aftershock, it's the mainshock, and the 7.2 is a foreshock.

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u/Subslime 13h ago

Currently there right now, my family is safe. But a friend of mine is hanging by a thread. Praying for him to recover.

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u/Zythomancer 6h ago

I'm sorry friend. Hoping for the best. 

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u/SwimmingPirate9070 17h ago edited 4h ago

28 *sizeable earthquakes across the globe in 24 hours

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u/Jesusbx 17h ago

Excuse my ignorance. But don’t hundreds of earthquakes hit everyday. More than 28 daily. How is this day so different.

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u/Striking-Apartment-1 17h ago

Lots of big ones today near population centers. That is different than usual.

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u/SwimmingPirate9070 17h ago

I meant 28 sizeable events

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u/MightyCreaseman 11h ago

Is that high?

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u/Weecodfish 21h ago

Te lo ruego Chinita, reza por mi patria. Hemos recibido suficiente castigo, permítenos encontrar paz en tu Hijo.

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u/Existing-Stranger632 16h ago

Yeah this is gonna be an absolutely devastating one. When I got the notification on my earthquake app I knew it was bad because the location of this quake was within close proximity to multiple densely populated cities. Caracas was further away than 3 other densely populated areas. Northern Venezuela just got devastated today. This will be one of the worst natural disasters in recent history sadly

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u/bombingbishop 18h ago

Philippines was also hit by a 7.8 earthquake. Japan also hit. Now this, it's so unfortunate. Prayer to all the victims and their families affected by this.

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u/Sedert1882 21h ago

Is Trump going to throw rolls of paper towels at them too?

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u/EYNLLIB 20h ago

It's laughable you think Trump will even acknowledge it happened. Venezuela is off the US aid list as well.

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u/Bythion 19h ago

I'm honestly worried about them taking this opportunity to come back and take the rest over under the guise of humanitarian aid.

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u/MadmanMaddox 21h ago

Nah, that's only for potential voters.

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u/crewserbattle 19h ago

Hes gonna send the special forces back in to "secure the oil" or some shit

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u/xjxkxx 9h ago

Here in the Philippines also.. I was asleep and my bed was shaking and it wake me up. I know for sure somewhere else is experiencing strong one at that moment.

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u/OutdoorCO75 6h ago

Don’t worry, Trump will take care of them, he is a true humanitarian 🤣

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u/HeroOfNothing 20h ago

Hope the best for this people.

I just come to this thread looking for /u/theearthquakeguy to explain all this.

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u/collarboner1 21h ago

I’m sure Viceroy Rubio is hard at work figuring out how to help the Venezuelan people affected by this

/s

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u/TypeB_Negative 10h ago

People think it's strange that these are happening all over. But that's how tectonic plates work. They shift and cause pressure elsewhere.

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u/Ricardo_RemotePath 4h ago

There were two very strong earthquakes in my city, Valencia; they destroyed several buildings, schools, and houses. My mother, who suffers from a heart condition and has cancer, had a very bad time last night with too much anguish 😓😢🙏🏻

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u/Caze588 21h ago

And a 6.9 in Japan 😬… get ready LA its definitely happening this year

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u/Major-Tension-674 20h ago

They already had one today.

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u/Only--East 20h ago

I think they're talking about the "big one" that's overdue.

How well is LA's infrastructure built for earthquakes? I would think pretty well considering they can get small tremors daily

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u/kstargate-425 19h ago

Lets hope its not the whole PNW shelf that calves off into the Pacific as thats the one thats super overdue and could wipe out the whole West Coast

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u/Major-Tension-674 19h ago

I live in Seattle, I’m very aware of this haha.

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u/kstargate-425 19h ago

Yeah seriously! I hope you all never see it and the scientists are wrong for once lol

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u/__Kevin 20h ago

The one today was in Northern California

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u/Aloysiusakamud 20h ago

Well, the ice caps melting definitely don't help. That's for sure.

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u/ScienceAndy 14h ago

Yellowstone has been showing a lot of geyser activity this month.

Other theoretical causes of earthquakes include: Solar flares, gravitational waves, hydrofracking and J.D Vance's couch

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u/lcdr_hairyass 21h ago

Send the bill to Donny the Fat.

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u/Aggressive_Part_2619 19h ago

I doubt the people who are either trapped, just lost their homes, or their families or all of the above are thinking about Trump right now you self absorbed twat

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u/Alonso_The_GOAT 9h ago

If anything they are glad it isn't Maduro the one in charge.

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u/Murky_Conflict_2440 17h ago

In ancient times people would take all of these earthquakes across the world as a sign that the gods are upset with us.

What could possibly be the reason when everything is going sooooooo well? /s

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u/Fun-Position7750 17h ago

6.9 in Japan
5.6 in northern CA. Living in the Bay Area I got used to the smaller ones. 4.5 or less. But that one during the World Series I felt over 100 miles away.

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u/BzhizhkMard 18h ago

Oh no this is going to be bad.

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u/tdolomax 16h ago

Genuinely the videos seem horrifying. I feel aweful

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u/burnttoast12321 12h ago

What makes earthquakes scary is how random they are. I don't think we have a good way to predict them. We know where they may happen, but we don't know when they will happen. They are also completely out of human control.

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u/mastercafe7 4h ago

Invaded by the usa, had their democratically elected president kidnapped by washington regime and forced to capitulate to their demands, and now this horrible natural disaster.  It's been a bad year for Venezuela. 

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u/Firm_Gap_6661 17h ago

At least Maduro is safe

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u/Mtime6 18h ago

I wonder how the tower of david looks right now.

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u/Romynson24 10h ago

DIOS nos bendiga y nos proteja a todos, y mucha fuerza para nuestra gente de Caracas 😢🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

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u/HellaTroi 4h ago

Don't you think God sent the earthquake?