Magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits northern Venezuela - USGS

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 hit northern Venezuela early on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, with witnesses reporting tremors more than 100 km (60 miles) from the epicentre. The quake was recorded 4 km northeast of San Diego at 0859 GMT at a depth of about 10 km, according to the USGS website.

"The whole house shook," said a witness in Club de Campo, 102 km from the epicentre, in a posting on the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) website. Another witness said the quake lasted five or six seconds. There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage

Earlier in August, a major earthquake of magnitude 7.3 also struck Venezuela's eastern coast, home to largely poor fishing communities.