CARACAS, VENEZUELA: A strong earthquake jolted Venezuelans from their sleep early Thursday, forcing residents in the capital to evacuate buildings in their pajamas before sunrise. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The 5.5 magnitude quake struck just before 5 a.m. Thursday (1000 GMT) and was centered near the town of San Diego, 165 kilometers (100 miles) west of Caracas, the capital. It had a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers) and was felt across seven states, along with a 5.0 magnitude aftershock a few minutes later.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said there were no major damages or casualties. Photos on social media showed large cracks to some buildings and fallen walls and debris from historic facades in San Diego, a suburb of Venezuela’s third-largest city, Valencia.
While earthquakes are common in Venezuela, they tend to be less frequent and not as strong as those that hit elsewhere in South America like neighboring Colombia, Chile and Peru.
Daniel Salazar said she ran nervously from bed in search of her 76-year-old mother and found her standing next to their Christmas tree, which was swaying back and forth.
“My entire body is shaking, I’m not sure if from the cold or the scare we experienced,” said Salazar, who was standing outside her high-rise Caracas apartment before dawn.
The quake follows a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in August — the country’s strongest in more than a century — that rattled residents across Venezuela and was felt as far away as in neighboring Colombia and Guyana.
Strong 5.5 quake rattles Venezuela before dawn; people flee
Strong 5.5 quake rattles Venezuela before dawn; people flee
- Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said there were no major damages or casualties
- While earthquakes are common in Venezuela, they tend to be less frequent and not as strong as those that hit elsewhere in South America
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
