Venezuelans Search Rubble for Survivors After 2 Strong Quakes Kill at Least 188

La Guaira: Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings on Thursday and rescue teams rushed to northern areas shaken by powerful earthquakes that authorities say have killed at least 188 people and trapped more than 200.

It is feared that more people will die in the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that occurred on Wednesday evening and were among the strongest earthquakes in Venezuela in more than a century and were felt throughout the region. Nearly 1,500 people were injured, thousands were reported missing, and buildings as far as the Brazilian Amazon were evacuated.

In response to the devastation, the U.S. Treasury decided Thursday to waive some sanctions through Oct. 23 to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited.

Meanwhile, in cities in northern Venezuela, panicked citizens took to the streets and searched for missing people in the rubble.

The injured, including children and animals, were removed from the rubble covered in dust and blood. Venezuelan state television aired dramatic rescue footage, including a woman trapped under a cement slab; There was one woman who walked out only barefoot until crews managed to get her out alive. But there were few government search parties outside Caracas.

Dayana Delgado, a mother of three, asked where the heavy machinery promised by government officials was and pointed out that it was the neighbors who were digging through the rubble.

“I want to know where my child is, whether he is stranded or in a shelter,” he said of his missing eight-year-old son.

A mother cried out of grief and collapsed on the ground as the bodies of her children, ages three and ten, were wrapped in blankets and taken away. Others shouted the names of their missing loved ones. Some remained in silent shock.

The coastal region of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas, suffered some of the heaviest damage and losses. The country’s main airport is located there and has been closed due to damage, complicating relief efforts.

Retired teacher Juan Alberto Mendano was climbing through the rubble and passing a body in La Guaira when he noticed a trapped woman waving for help.

“May God save him as quickly as possible,” Mendano said. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”

Offers to send aid and supplies poured in from around the world, including the United States, which captured Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro in a surprise military operation at the beginning of the year.

The natural disaster is the latest challenge facing Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president who took office in January following Maduro’s capture. Venezuela has been facing economic turmoil for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement that Rodriguez represents.

Rescue teams head to heavily damaged coastal area

Venezuelan officials said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters; A landslide in 1999, considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters, killed thousands of people.

Rodriguez on Thursday called on businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.

“We hope to save as many living people as possible,” said Rodriguez, who called La Guaira a “disaster area.”

He said the first rescuers from the Dominican Republic were about to land and more were expected to arrive from other countries in the coming hours.

While Venezuela is located near numerous fault lines, its location between the South American and Caribbean plates means that strong earthquakes are much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

The first earthquake, measuring 7.2, occurred west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers west of Caracas, the US Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 22 kilometers. Just a minute later, the USGS reported a second magnitude 7.5 earthquake with an epicenter 16 kilometers southwest of Moron, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The one-two punch of earthquakes combined with shallow seismic movements increases the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Brazilian Geological Survey.

“It’s like I’m screaming and then someone starts screaming too. This amplifies the vibration and increases the potential danger,” Ferreira said.

Venezuelans shaken by two powerful earthquakes

During the earthquake, people ran away from shaking buildings. Many people were stunned Thursday morning to see buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging from windows and helicopters circling overhead.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreno looked at his burned-out apartment building leaning precariously to one side.

“I lost everything,” he said. “I think there are still people inside who can’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night gathering in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said 41-year-old doorman Maria Cristina Diaz. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t even blink an eye.”

Electricity and cellphone service were out in some parts of the capital, Rodriguez said. He said metro services were stopped and natural gas was cut off. 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.

Families began posting missing reports containing photos of their loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for their loved ones. Venezuelans living abroad were having difficulty communicating with their relatives.

Shortly after United Nations officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people could access 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 between those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.

Many governments have offered assistance

Rodriguez declared a state of emergency in his address to the nation late Wednesday. He said the government had created a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.

Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal and Canada pledged to send aid. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday. Assistance included emergency personnel and military personnel, dogs and search teams, medical supplies, water purifiers, airplanes and drones.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke with Rodriguez after the quake, said the United States “immediately” deployed search and rescue teams and medical resources, although he acknowledged that the closure of Venezuela’s main airport created logistical challenges.

“It’s a whole government response. It’s going to be big, it’s going to be fast, it’s going to be effective,” Rubio said.