La Guaira (Venezuela): Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday, and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed around 235 people and left at least 4,300 people injured.
“Unfortunately, we have received around 235 patients who arrive without vital signs or die when they arrive at our health facilities,” Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state media Thursday.
The number of dead and injured is expected to rise, with thousands reported missing after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening, which were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and were felt throughout the region.
Thousands were reported missing, and buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon.
In response to the devastation, the US Treasury Thursday moved to waive some sanctions until October 23 to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited.
Meanwhile, in cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris.
The injured were pulled out of the rubble, covered in dust and blood, among them children and animals. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab, only a barefoot poking out before crews managed to get her out alive. But few government search teams were seen outside Caracas.
Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbours were the ones digging through the rubble.
“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her eight-year-old son who was missing.
One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her three- and ten-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of missing loved ones. Some stood in silent shock.
The coastal region of La Guaira — north of the capital, Caracas — suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties. The country’s main airport is there and was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.
Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendano climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signalling with her hand for help.
“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mendano. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”
Offers to send aid and supplied poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.
The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Maduro’s capture. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodriguez represents.
Rescue teams head to heavily damaged coastal region
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters; a 1999 mudslide there, considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters, killed thousands.
Rodriguez appealed to businesses Thursday to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.
“We hope to rescue as many living people as possible,” said Rodriguez, who referred to La Guaira as a “disaster zone.”
She said the first rescuers from the Dominican Republic were about to land, and more from other countries were expected to arrive in the coming hours.
While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
The US Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometres west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometres. Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometres and an epicentre 16 kilometres southwest of Moron.
The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.
Venezuela residents reeling from quakes
During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings. Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carreno stared at his charred apartment building, tilting precariously to one side.
“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”
In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said Maria Cristina Diaz, a 41-year-old janitor. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t sleep a wink.”
Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone service, Rodriguez said. Subway services were suspended, and natural gas was shut off, she said. Classes will also be cancelled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centres.
Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for loved ones. Venezuelans living abroad struggled to make contact with relatives.
Shortly after United Nations officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024, in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.
Several governments offered assistance
Rodriguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a USD 200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.
Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Canada vowed to send aid. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday. Aid included emergency and military personnel, canine and search teams, medical supplies, water purifiers, aeroplanes, and drones.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodriguez following the quake, said the United States was “immediately” deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources other assistance, though he acknowledged the closure of Venezuela’s main airport created logistical challenges.
