The topic Venezuela earthquakes: frantic search for survivors continues, with 235 confirmed… is drawing steady attention: readers, analysts, and industry watchers are all tracking how the story may unfold in the days ahead.
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Rescue workers and residents in cities across northern Venezuela continue to dig through rubble in a frantic search for survivors, more than a day after the country was hit with the most powerful earthquake in over a century.
At least 235 people have been killed, but authorities fear the death toll could rise significantly, with thousands reported missing. More than 4,000 people were injured in the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck less than 40 seconds apart on Wednesday evening in the northern states near the capital, Caracas.
The coastal region of La Guaira, where the country’s main airport is located, suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties, as rows of towering apartment blocks were reduced to rubble while people desperately searched for missing loved ones.
The UN’s humanitarian agency, Ocha, reported more than 100 buildings had collapsed in the La Guaira region alone, including a large block of flats called the Ritasol Palace and the seafront Eduard’s Hotel.
The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation. She said the government was creating a $200m reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.
She appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.
Dramatic scenes unfolded on Thursday of people being pulled out of rubble covered in dust and blood, but few government rescue teams were initially seen outside Caracas, according to the data reports.
Yamileth Jimenez, from La Guaira city, said her 19-year-old son was still trapped in the debris of their seven-story apartment building.
“He’s under the slabs and there’s no machinery to get him out,” Jimenez told Reuters.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the defence department would help search and rescue teams deploy to the affected region after the Simón Bolívar international airport was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.
He said the immediate priority was search and rescue. “They have [lots of] collapsed buildings and so they will need a lot of help in terms of digging through that,” Rubio told reporters, adding that the next 72 “golden” hours were critical.