A magnitude 7.2 foreshock struck western Venezuela shortly before being followed up by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock about 40 seconds later. The death toll from the deadly double earthquakes has risen to around 235, with more than 4,300 people injured, according to Health Minister Carlos Alvarado. Those tolls could continue to rise — the US Geological Survey estimates the death toll could be in the thousands and possibly more than 10,000.
The quakes hit on Wednesday evening local time, when streets in Caracas and the port city of La Guaira were still busy. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said that the Los Palos Grandes and Altamira municipalities were the worst-affected parts of the capital. In an unspecified area in southeastern Caracas, almost all high-rise buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed, with many of them collapsing.
“As of 7:00 PM today, we have already attended to more than 4,300 injured people, some minor, most minor, but there are also moderate and serious cases. Many of them have required surgical interventions, and unfortunately, we have received around 235 patients who arrived without vital signs or who died upon arrival at our health facilities,” Alvarado said.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency and announced that the airport in Caracas was closed, trains were suspended and school was cancelled for several days.
The disaster is compounded by Venezuela’s existing crisis. “It’s all the more of an uphill struggle when you’re coming from a situation of very limited social services, very limited public infrastructure, and the financial and economic challenges that Venezuela has continued to experience,” one relief official said.
Why Venezuela Is Affected
Venezuela has one of the most restricted media landscapes in the world, which has made it difficult for residents or concerned loved ones abroad to gain information about damage or casualties. More than 200 websites in the country are blocked, including local and international news and social media sites.
International aid is arriving. Pledges poured in from around the world. The US said it was “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance.” Pope Leo sent an initial €100,000 emergency donation, with “further assistance to follow.”
One family’s story captures the scale of the unknown. Jesuska Inciarte in Kentucky is “still in shock” and waiting for word about her cousin and her cousin’s one-month-old baby. She has heard from some relatives — “Thank Allah they survived,” she said — but her cousin Victoria Campos and infant Ailany Campos were in La Guaira when the disaster began, and the family has received no information about them.
For Pakistan, the disaster is not abstract. Pakistan sits on an active fault zone. The 2005 Kashmir earthquake killed over 73,000. The 2013 Balochistan earthquake destroyed Awaran. The vulnerability of the population and infrastructure in Venezuela, the consequence of societal and political dysfunction, has magnified the impact — a dynamic that Pakistan, with its own under-enforced building codes in informal settlements, understands.
No news from rural areas is very bad news. The biggest impacts are often in communities with the highest shaking but the poorest communications. Roads become blocked, power is lost and there is no telephone service.
