Earthquake hits Venezuela hard

Rescue teams raced Thursday to the areas hardest hit by a pair of powerful earthquakes that rocked Venezuela, killing at least 164 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and trapping many beneath collapsed buildings.

Wednesday evening’s 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. The country’s main airport was damaged and closed, while buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

Television broadcasts on Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Panicked residents of the capital were sent pouring into the streets, and after the quakes, many people walked among the debris searching for the missing among collapsed buildings and toppled electric poles.

Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who gave the latest death toll early Thursday, said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which sits north of Caracas on the coast. Officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble, she said.

Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodriguez described as a “disaster zone” and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings.

“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there ... and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodriguez said.

Video shared online appeared to show dozens of people, some lying on the ground and others on hospital beds, being treated outside a hospital in La Guaira.

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.

Rodriguez appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, adding that search and rescue teams certified by the United Nations were on their way to Venezuela.

During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street. Columns of dust rose in two typically busy neighborhoods in the capital.

“It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,” Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage structures, and many people stayed on the streets for hours, some sitting on the ground hugging pets as dust gathered around them. In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night huddled around parks, parking lots and other open spaces. Authorities warned against returning to homes with structural damage.

“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; but I didn’t want to spend the night alone at home after that terrible earthquake.”

“It was awful. We cried, we screamed. Thankfully, we’re alive,” she added.

Diaz and her family rushed to Plaza Candelaria in downtown Caracas because it’s one of the few open areas near her home.

Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone coverage, and the earthquakes damaged and closed Simon Bolivar International Airport, the country’s main airport, Rodriguez said.

In Caracas, subway services were suspended and natural gas 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 centers.

On Thursday morning, scores of people in Venezuela and abroad struggled to contact family members. Families began posting missing-person fliers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for.

Also on Thursday, the UN human rights mission in Venezuela called on the government to lift local restrictions on social media.

“In the coming hours and days, timely access to reliable information and communication channels will be essential for the protection of the lives, safety, and well-being of the population,” the mission said in a statement.

In August 2024, then President Nicolas Maduro ordered X blocked in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential elections.