An earthquake that struck the north-eastern coast of Venezuela on July 10 left at least 46 people dead, 162 injured, and more than 500 families homeless. Most of the deaths occurred in the small coastal town of Cariaco, about 470 km east of Caracas, where two school buildings collapsed killing 22 people, most of them children. The quake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was about 48 km north of the city of Cumana. Rescue teams were trying to reach an unknown number of survivors trapped beneath the rubble of buildings destroyed by the quake.