More than 70 earthquakes have rattled the Ring of Fire, a huge swathe of geologically active tectonic plates stretching from South America to Australia via the western United States and East Asia, in the past three days.

First Venezuela was struck by a major 7.3 earthquake last night, with citizens across northern South America and parts of the Caribbean reporting strong shaking.

In Venezuela's picturesque palm tree-dotted northern coast, residents said the long quake was terrifying.

The tremor made residents nauseous, caused lamps to swing and led people to dash into the streets.

The quake was also felt in the capital of Caracas, where residents rushed out of office buildings, as well as in nearby island nations like Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Lucia, to the west and north.

Residents in Trinidad and Tobago shared video online showing some damage to buildings.

Then Vanuatu, located in the western Pacific Ocean was hit by a strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake.

The shallow quake's epicentre was located just a few miles off the northern tip of sparsely populated Ambrym.