At least 164 people have died and 971 were injured after a pair of powerful quakes rocked Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Thursday. The 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.
Rescue Efforts
Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone” and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings.
Rodríguez said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which sits north of Caracas on the coast. She said 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.
“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there … and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodríguez said.
International Response
Rodríguez appealed to the private sector 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 to assist.
Offers of help poured in from countries around the world. U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said in a post on X early Thursday that the United States is “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”
Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.
