The earthquakes triggered panic in Caracas and drove people into the streets, AFP journalists saw.
“The stairs came away, the whole wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible,” 54-year-old bank employee Odalis Escalona told the news agency AFP.
“It was unbelievable, I don’t even know how long it lasted,” said shopkeeper Heidi Romero, who was on the top floor of the shopping centre when the quake struck.
“We went out through the emergency stairs; that’s how they got us out,” the 42-year-old told AFP.
Carmen Guedez, 69, was in the same room as her bedridden sister when she felt the tremors.
“It kept getting stronger,” said the administrator. “I started to see the windows begin to move and then everything shook.”
She described how she “huddled together” with her sister and a neighbour, adding that “we couldn’t get out. The neighbours are still out on the street.”
