Quake of 5.6 magnitude shakes Venezuela, no deaths

CARACAS (Reuters) - An earthquake of 5.6 magnitude shook western Venezuela early on Friday, panicking residents and damaging some buildings, officials said.

There was no loss of life or damage reported to any oil installations in the OPEC member South American country.

Local seismological center Funvisis said the earthquake struck at 3:45 a.m. (0815 GMT) and its epicenter was in the locality of Churuguara in Lara state.

"There were no injuries or loss of life reported, just some structural damage," Funvisis official Theyler Vasquez said.

Authorities said frightened residents ran into the streets, and some walls of buildings were cracked.

State oil company PDVSA said it was unaffected. "There is no impact on our installations," a spokesman said.

Funvisis said the earthquake had a depth of 3 miles, and there were 10 smaller after-shocks. The U.S. Geological Survey had reported the magnitude at 5.5.

It was the latest in a series of non-lethal earthquakes in Venezuela in recent months, the worst being a 6.4 magnitude tremor in mid-September.

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne, and Paul Simao in Washington; editing by Mohammad Zargham)