Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
At least 164 people have died and 971 have been injured after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodrguez said on Thursday, as rescue teams rushed to the worst-hit areas to pull people from under the rubble. The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes hit on Wednesday evening and were among the strongest to strike the country in more than a century.
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The tremors were felt across the region, with Venezuela’s main airport damaged and shut, and buildings evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometres from Caracas. In the capital, residents ran into the streets in panic, while television footage showed rescue workers using power tools to cut through collapsed buildings and search for survivors.
State television showed three children, covered in dust but alive, being pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state. Rodrguez described La Guaira, on the coast north of Caracas, as a “disaster zone” and said it was among the hardest-hit areas because of the large number of buildings that had collapsed.
She said authorities were moving rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira and were trying to make full use of daylight to speed up efforts to reach people believed to be trapped. “Dozens of buildings have collapsed there … and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodrguez 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.
Rodrguez also appealed to businesses to provide heavy construction equipment for the rescue work. She said United Nations-certified search and rescue teams were on their way to Venezuela to help. Although Venezuela lies near several fault lines, strong earthquakes are much less common there than in other parts of Latin America because of its position between the South American and Caribbean plates.
During the quakes, people fled swaying buildings in Caracas and turned back to scenes of shattered walls, exposed furniture and rising dust in busy neighbourhoods. “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.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to stay outdoors because aftershocks could cause further damage. Many remained on the streets for hours, some sitting on the ground and holding their pets, while others spent the night in parked cars, metro stations and other public places. Parts of the capital lost power and mobile phone coverage, and the damage forced the closure of Simon Bolvar International Airport, the country’s main airport, Rodrguez said.
She said metro services in Caracas had been suspended and natural gas supplies shut off. Classes will be cancelled for several days, and the Education Ministry said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centres. Another resident, Roberto Gamas, said the building he was in “shook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong.”
Disrupted mobile phone networks added to the anxiety of families, especially among the more than 7.7 million people who have left Venezuela during its long crisis and were trying to contact relatives in the country. On Thursday, many people used social media to ask for help in finding loved ones, posting pictures of missing relatives and their last known locations. Opposition leader Mara Corina Machado, who is in exile, wrote on X wishing Venezuela “strength, serenity, and solidarity”.
The US Geological Survey said the first earthquake, of magnitude 7.2, struck west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometres west of Caracas, at a depth of 22 kilometres. A minute later, it reported a 7.5 magnitude quake at a depth of 10 kilometres, with an epicentre 16 kilometres southwest of Moron.
Late on Wednesday, Rodrguez declared a state of emergency and said the government was setting up a USD 200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes. She said the economy and finance ministers had been directed to oversee the work. Rodrguez, who became acting president after an American military operation captured her predecessor Nicols Maduro and took him to the United States to stand trial, later thanked US President Donald Trump. She said she had also spoken by phone with US Secretary of State Rubio, who had written on X that the United States was “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”
Rodrguez said Ecuador had ordered humanitarian aid to be sent, while Qatar, Mexico and El Salvador had already dispatched rescue personnel. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele wrote on X: “We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela.” She also thanked leaders of several countries for their messages of support and offers of help.
The earthquakes were also felt beyond Venezuela. Buildings were evacuated in Manaus, Belem and Macapa in Brazil’s Amazon, according to TV Globo, while tremors were reported in Colombia’s Caribbean and north-eastern regions. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued several tsunami alerts, but they were quickly lifted.
The twin earthquakes left large parts of Venezuela dealing with deaths, injuries, damaged infrastructure and frantic rescue efforts, with La Guaira and Caracas among the worst affected as authorities and foreign teams moved to help survivors and begin relief work.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
