At Least 164 Dead And 971 Injured After Powerful Quakes Rock Venezuela, Acting President Says

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — At least 164 people were killed and 971 injured after a pair of powerful earthquakes shook Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Thursday, adding that rescue teams were rushing to the hardest-hit areas to rescue people trapped under rubble.

Between the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that occurred on Wednesday evening The strongest person to hit Venezuela in over a century and was felt throughout the region. The country’s main airport was damaged and closed; Buildings as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela’s capital Caracas, were evacuated.

Television broadcasts on Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to move towards piles of rubble where buildings once stood. While panicked residents of the capital took to the streets, after the earthquake, many people walked among the rubble and searched for their missing people among collapsed buildings and fallen electric poles.

Images on state television showed three dust-covered but alive children being pulled from the rubble in La Guaira province, which Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone” and one of the areas hardest hit by earthquakes due to the large number of collapsed buildings.

Authorities shifted rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira on the coast, north of Caracas, Rodríguez said. Authorities said they were trying to make the most of daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to be trapped under the rubble.

“Dozens of buildings collapsed there… and we are currently conducting intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodríguez said.

Video shared online shows dozens of people receiving treatment outside a hospital in La Guaira, some on the ground and others in hospital beds.

During Venezuelan This region, located near numerous fault lines, makes strong earthquakes much less common than other parts of Latin America due to its location between the South American and Caribbean plates.

Rodríguez called on businesses to keep heavy construction equipment ready for rescue operations, adding that United Nations-sanctioned search and rescue teams were on their way to Venezuela.

During earthquakes, people in Caracas fled from shaking buildings; Many were visibly shocked when they returned to see collapsed walls that made furniture visible from the street. Columns of dust rose in two typically dense neighborhoods of the capital.

“It started slowly, then slowly it grew, and eventually we all had to leave our homes, go out and gather together,” said Hector Ricci, a Caracas resident.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to stay outside because aftershocks could further damage structures, and many people remained on the streets for hours, some sitting on the ground hugging their pets as dust gathered around them. Others spent the night in parked cars, subway stations and other public places.

Rodríguez said parts of the capital lost electricity and cellphone coverage, and earthquakes damaged and closed Simón Bolívar International Airport, the country’s main airport.

He said metro services were stopped and natural gas was cut off in Caracas. Classes will also be canceled for a few days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings will be used as shelters and donation centers.

Roberto Gamas, another Caracas resident, said the building he was in “swayed from side to side. It was unreal. The force was incredibly strong.”

The lack of mobile phone signal in some parts of Venezuela has deepened the distress of many families, especially the more than 7.7 million people who have fled the country. during the long crisis and those who have difficulty reaching relatives within the country.

On Thursday, scores of people asked for help finding loved ones on social media, posting photos of their missing relatives and their last known location.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is also in exile, sent X wishes for “strength, peace and solidarity.”

The first quake, measuring 7.2, occurred west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles).

Just a minute later, the USGS reported a magnitude 7.5 earthquake with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in his address to the nation late Wednesday. He said that the government created a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and houses damaged in the earthquake and instructed the economy and finance ministers to supervise these works.

Offers of help poured in from all over the world.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was “immediately sending search and rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”

“We will get a full response from the government,” Rubio said in Bahrain on Thursday. “It’s going to be big. It’s going to be fast. It’s going to be impactful.”

He added that one of the runways at Caracas’ international airport cracked during the earthquake, making it difficult for planes to land there.

Rodríguez – became acting president some time later American military operation captures predecessor Nicolás Maduroand brought him to the United States for trial – thanking US President Donald Trump. He later said in an X post that he spoke to Rubio on the phone without sharing details. He also thanked the leaders of various nations who sent messages of support and offers of assistance.

Ecuador ordered the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Rodríguez said Qatar, Mexico and El Salvador had already sent rescue personnel.

“We send you all our solidarity and prayers. Stay strong Venezuela,” El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, once a diametrically opposed person to the Venezuelan government, wrote in a post on X.

According to Globo TV, buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapa in Brazil’s Amazon region were evacuated. Earthquakes were also felt in the Caribbean and northeastern regions of Colombia.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued several tsunami warnings, which were quickly lifted.

While rare in Venezuela, earthquakes are common along the Pacific coast, including Mexico and Chile, which lie along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the Ring of Fire, which the USGS says is responsible for 90% of earthquakes.

Garcia Cano reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writers Clara Preve in Buenos Aires; Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia; Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo; Anna-Catherine Brigida, Megan Janetsky and India Grant in Mexico City; Cristina Fuentes in Madrid; and Maria Teresa Hernandez in Beijing contributed to this report.