A multi-hour state of precaution has come to an end for communities along the Dominican Republic’s southern shore, after local authorities officially terminated a tsunami warning triggered by two major undersea earthquakes off Venezuela’s northern coast earlier Wednesday.
The Emergency Operations Center, known locally by its Spanish acronym COE, made the announcement Wednesday after hours of continuous ocean monitoring and consultation with international and regional geological and meteorological agencies. After reviewing real-time sea level data and updated seismic assessments, the agency confirmed that the immediate tsunami threat has fully passed.
In the immediate aftermath of the quakes, which registered magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 respectively and struck off the coast of Venezuela’s Puerto Cabello, officials in the Dominican Republic quickly issued the alert as a standard precautionary measure. Coastal residents were instructed to evacuate low-lying shoreline areas and move to higher ground to avoid potential inundation.
With the alert now lifted, all residents who relocated can safely return to their homes and resume their regular daily routines. Even as the emergency stands down, COE has emphasized that the public should remain attentive to future official announcements and maintain a baseline vigilance for shifting ocean or seismic conditions in the coming days.