WASHINGTON – Caracas and other central Venezuelan cities were rattled Saturday by a magnitude-6.4 earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS.

The seismic shift took place at 4:06 p.m. local time (2006 GMT) at some 10 kilometers (6¼ miles) under the sea at a point located around 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Caracas and 35 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Puerto Cabello.

According to the USGS, it was most powerful around the city of Valencia at some 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of the epicenter, where the temblors were defined as “strong.”

It was also felt to a lesser degree in Caracas, Acarigua, Barquisimeto, Nirgua, Barcelona and El Tocuyo, among other towns in the central part of the country and along the Caribbean coast, according to the USGS.