Site effects of the 1997 Cariaco, Venezuela earthquake Jorge Gonzalez*, Michael Schmitz , Franck Audemard , Rommel Contreras , Antoine Mocquet , Jesus Delgadod , Feliciano De Santis,  Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research, FUNVISIS, Apdo. Postal 76880 Caracas 1070, Venezuela  Centro de Sismologı´a, Universidad de Oriente, Cumana´, Venezuela   Laboratoire de Plane´tologie et Ge´odynamique, Universite´ de Nantes, France  UCV-CENAMB, Caracas, Venezuela Received 28 April 2003; accepted 24 July 2003 Abstract  During the July 9, 1997 Cariaco earthquake, the small town of Cariaco (located 10 km SW from the epicenter) and Cumana´ (capital of the State of Sucre, located about 80 km west from the epicenter) were the most affected towns. The damage in Cariaco was essentially restricted to one-century-old dwellings in the downtown area, but also three rather modern buildings collapsed. A maximum intensity of VIII (MMI) was determined for the epicentra...