CARACAS — Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead as rescuers are searching through rubble in a rush to save lives after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around Venezuelan capital Caracas on Wednesday.
In Caracas and the nearby coastal city of La Guaira, people could be heard calling for help from under the debris of collapsed buildings.
The first 7.2-magnitude quake was followed seconds later by an even stronger 7.5-magnitude one, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with both occurring close to the surface, making destruction more severe.
The USGS, using predictive modeling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000.
A website set up to track missing people by leaders from the country’s opposition listed more than 39,000 people as unaccounted for as of 1:45 p.m. in Caracas (1745 GMT).
Venezuelan authorities reported at least 235 people confirmed dead and more than 4,300 others injured.
Many more people are feared dead, with others left homeless or too afraid to stay in damaged, unsafe buildings sleeping in the streets after the disaster.
Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, reported on Thursday that the death toll had risen, after the country’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency.
The earthquakes struck at 18:04 local time (22:04 GMT) on Wednesday — a national holiday in Venezuela, meaning more people would have been at home than on a normal weekday.
The second earthquake that hit Venezuela on Wednesday was the country’s strongest in more than a century, according to the US Geological Survey.
The worst-affected area was La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city’s airport.
Several countries have pledged to help the rescue efforts, with the US promising $150 million (£113m) in aid. The US military is sending transport ships and aircraft to support search and rescue teams and “rapid relief operations”, it said in a statement.
Rodríguez said rescue crews from other countries would arrive soon and thanked leaders including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She said rescuers were working to reach survivors, with support being sent from the US, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Qatar.
Rodríguez said 250 buildings had been damaged or lost, mostly in La Guaira, where the BBC verified footage of a 10-story hotel reduced to rubble. On Thursday, people were searching for loved ones there.
Juan Ortiz told the BBC one of his close friends had been confirmed dead, another was believed to be under the rubble, and around 20 people he knew who live in the coastal area were missing.
“I’m in shock and confusion, and frustrated that I can’t help,” the medical student in Caracas said.
Buildings were also brought down in the capital, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said, with Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua and Miranda also affected.
Mayor Gustavo Duque of Chacao, which forms part of the greater metropolitan area of Caracas, said outside one ruined building on Thursday that 11 people had died there and 23 had been rescued.
In a video update posted on social media, he said the team was trying to clear the rubble so that specialists could go in “to reach people who are hopefully still alive”.
“We’re trying to rescue as many people alive as possible,” he said.
Venezuela’s main international airport in Maiquetía on the outskirts of Caracas has been closed due to serious damage, the country’s interim president said. Video from inside the terminal showed dust and debris falling from the ceiling.
About 250km (155 miles) northwest of Caracas, another verified video showed a multi-storey building, reportedly a hotel, collapsed in Tucacas on the coast.
Aftershocks have continued to ripple through the area, with at least 30 recorded after the two earthquakes, Rodríguez told state-run television channel Venezolana de Televisión.
The USGS said: “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread.”
It estimated there was a 42% chance of more than 10,000 deaths and a 33% chance of more than 100,000 as a result of the earthquakes, based on a range of factors including previous, similar quakes and the size of the nearby population.
These figures were issued to help the emergency response and are not an exact prediction. They were calculated based on previous earthquakes with similar characteristics, as well and other factors such as the size and depth of each quake.
Other elements play into the potential injuries and deaths, including the quality of the buildings and the time of day the quakes hit.
Venezuela lies over the meeting point of two tectonic plates and the earthquakes were likely caused by the sudden release of friction between them.
Caracas-based journalist Luis Hernandez said assessing the true scale of the damage would be difficult, with power cuts and internet failures complicating the situation.
“Due to the economic crisis in the country, it is very difficult for us to assess,” he said.
Cabello told VTV that the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes neighbourhoods of Caracas were the worst hit.
The two were also among the worst-affected in 1967, when the last major earthquake to hit the Venezuelan capital struck, killing 200 people.
The second earthquake is the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900, USGS records show.
“It’s the strongest quake I’ve ever felt in my life,” said Mundo’s Nicole Kolster.
Kolster, who lives on the seventh floor of an apartment building in Los Palos Grandes, added: “It was so strong that I thought the building was going to fall on top of me.”
Colombians reportedly felt the earthquake hundreds of kilometres away in the capital, Bogotá.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote on X: “My heart, my infinite embrace, and my prayers are with every Venezuelan home in these hours of anguish.”
Source: Saudi Gazette