Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead on Thursday (25 June) after two powerful earthquakes, including the country's strongest in over a century, wreaked havoc in and around the capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday evening, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey.
The disaster struck a country already grappling with years of economic turmoil that had left much of its infrastructure fragile, complicating rescue and recovery efforts.
In some areas, emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings through the evening and into Thursday. In others, residents decried a lack of help.
Jorge Rodriguez, who heads Venezuela's national assembly and is the brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, said at least 188 people were confirmed dead and 200 were trapped.
He said 1,520 people were injured and at least 250 buildings had been damaged or destroyed.
The worst-affected area, La Guaira state, near Caracas, "has become a disaster zone," President Rodriguez said, adding that her government was working with businesses to deploy heavy machinery to accelerate rescue efforts.
"He's under the slabs and there's no machinery to get him out," said La Guaira resident Yamileth Jimenez, whose 19-year-old son is believed trapped in the rubble of their seven-story apartment building. "My father died three days ago and now this happens. It's just my son and me," said Jimenez.
Rescue workers were scarce in the state's coastal capital, also called La Guaira, where volunteers were digging with their bare hands.
"We lost everything. We have no food or medicines. We managed to get out in time and only have minor injuries… we hope help arrives quickly," said Pedro Perez, 64, the owner of an upholstery workshop. He said he lost his home and business and had been forced out onto the streets with his wife and children.
Others in La Guaira searched for food and water. Reuters witnessed looting at two stores there.
Caracas' main airport in La Guaira was closed on Thursday after suffering damage. Witnesses' footage during the earthquakes showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down.
Residents rush into the streets
Many Venezuelans were at home when the quakes struck during a public holiday. Residents fled shaking buildings and poured into the streets as structures collapsed across Caracas and nearby coastal areas.
"When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie," said Caracas resident Maria Alejandra, who did not give her surname.
"We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out."
Houses collapsed near the quake's epicentre in Morón, a small seaside town in the state of Carabobo, where there was no water or electricity. Three children were among at least eight killed in the area, municipal Mayor Emily Riera told Reuters.
Website shows more than 35,000 people unaccounted for
The US Geological Survey, using predictive modelling 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 and shared by leaders from the country's opposition, many of whom are outside Venezuela, listed more than 35,000 people as unaccounted for just after 1:30pm local time (1730 GMT). Reuters could not verify the veracity of every report.
The 7.5 magnitude quake was Venezuela's strongest since 1900. The country lies on the boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates and has suffered devastating earthquakes, including one that killed an estimated 30,000 people in 1812.
Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her out of her home. "This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967," she said, referring to a magnitude 6.3 quake that the USGS said killed 240 people.
International solidarity
Leaders from across the political spectrum expressed solidarity with Venezuela, a notable shift from the international polarization that has surrounded the country in recent years.
Rodriguez said international rescue teams were expected soon and thanked leaders including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Expatriate groups representing Venezuela's diaspora, which numbers in the millions after years of mass migration, began organizing aid collections abroad as relatives worked to contact family members back home.
Rodriguez called for unity in Venezuela, where anti-government protests over annual inflation of more than 500% have become more frequent since Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a violent raid in January.
Trump said the US was "ready, willing and able to help" and that the US would "be there for our new and great friends," while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said rescue teams were being deployed and the Pentagon would send assets to Caracas' badly damaged airport.
Other cities and towns close to Caracas affected by the quake, including El Junquito and La Guaira, remained without power on Thursday morning, increasing the challenges.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the organization was coordinating the rapid deployment of international rescue teams, adding that "a massive collective effort" would be needed in a country where even before the quake, 8 million people needed humanitarian aid.
The UN's Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift restrictions on some social media, saying it was a "matter of life and death". Access became available in some areas of the country, where cell services are unreliable.
Stock exchange to be used in rescue efforts
At Caracas' Hospital de Clinicas, staff doubled up on the night shift to treat the injured, a worker said.
School was cancelled for the rest of the week. The city's stock exchange was closed and will be used for rescue efforts.
The Venezuelan Red Cross said its headquarters had been critically damaged but sent rescue teams to the worst-affected areas. The French embassy was also badly hit.
Near the epicentre, workers were restarting the Morón Petrochemical Complex, Venezuela's second-largest in operation, a local firefighter chief said, after damage was assessed.
Other oil infrastructure appeared to be unaffected.
Chevron, the main foreign partner of Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA (PDVSA.UL), said all employees were accounted for and operations were continuing. UK oil firm Shell, which is evaluating developing gas fields in Venezuela, said all its employees were unhurt.
Source: Reuters
—Agencies
