Venezuela earthquake toll climbs as rescue efforts race to save survivors

Rescuers in Caracas and La Guaira raced through collapsed buildings after back-to-back earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 left at least 164 dead and nearly 1,000 injured. The quakes struck less than a minute apart, and dozens of buildings had fallen while emergency crews worked to reach people still trapped in the debris.

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, declared a state of emergency, and the country had already been hit by nearly two dozen aftershocks. Authorities also closed Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas after damage from the shaking.

Nearly 8 million people were already in need of urgent assistance, according to the International Rescue Committee. Ciarán Donnelly, who leads the group’s response work, said the organization was mobilizing relief items and emergency medical supplies for frontline workers. IRC Venezuela Country Director Nicole Kast said the situation was catastrophic and people had lost everything in seconds.

UN agencies were rapidly deploying aid, support and rescue teams as the response widened. The United States is sending a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team and two urban search and rescue teams, while also mobilizing $150 million in assistance for Venezuela. That package included $50 million in bilateral awards and a $100 million contribution to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Venezuela pooled fund.

Damaged roads, strained civil response capacity and the scale of destruction were slowing the delivery of aid, and rescue and recovery could take weeks or months, according to the IRC. The U.S. Geological Survey classified the stronger quake as the largest to hit Venezuela in more than a century, drawing comparisons to the 1967 Caracas earthquake.