MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela's earthquake toll rises to at least 164 dead and nearly 1,000 injured

Rodríguez said that La Guaira, a coastal state north of Caracas, is the hardest hit and described it as a “disaster zone,” with a high number of collapsed buildings

The number of victims from the twin earthquake that struck north-central Venezuela rose to at least 164 dead and 971 injured, acting President Delcy Rodríguez reported on Thursday, warning that the figure would keep rising as rescue work progressed. The quakes, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, hit on Wednesday afternoon and left dozens of buildings collapsed across several regions of the country.

 

Rodríguez reiterated that the coastal state of La Guaira, neighboring Caracas, is the hardest hit and described it as a “true tragedy” and a “disaster zone,” with dozens of collapsed buildings, among them a waterfront hotel in the city of Macuto. The state is home to Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the capital and remains closed because of severe damage to its infrastructure. La Guaira's preliminary toll was not yet fully included in the national figures.

Rescue teams worked against the clock through the rubble. The mayor of the Caracas municipality of Chacao, Gustavo Duque, said that people could still be heard alive and that at least 23 had been rescued. Relatives of the missing waited beside the collapsed buildings of Caracas and La Guaira for news.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) released an estimate according to which there is a probability of close to 42% that the death toll will fall between 10,000 and 100,000. This is a statistical projection produced by its PAGER rapid-assessment system based on the intensity of the shaking, the exposed population and the vulnerability of buildings, and not a count of victims; the agency's seismologists have described the potential toll as “thousands to tens of thousands.” The definitive toll will depend on the progress of rescue work.

The stronger of the two quakes, the magnitude 7.5, was the largest recorded in Venezuela since 1900 and formed, together with the first, what the USGS called a “seismic doublet,” just about 40 seconds apart. The epicenter was located in Yaracuy state, about 290 kilometers west of Caracas, where it was also strongly felt. The US agency also estimated a probability of close to 40% that an aftershock of magnitude 6 or greater would occur in the region over the coming week.

Venezuela sits in a seismically active zone, where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate. The country had already suffered devastating earthquakes: in 1967, a magnitude 6.7 quake left 236 dead in Caracas, and in 1812 an earthquake caused some 30,000 deaths in Mérida and the capital, according to the USGS. The emergency has mobilized a broad offer of international aid, with rescue teams on their way from several countries in the region and beyond.