Venezuela earthquakes kill 920 as families await news from missing

The official death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes rose to 920, with 3,360 injured, 172 still trapped and more than 50,000 people reported missing. In hard-hit La Guaira state, families kept searching through shattered apartment blocks and collapsed homes while communication with rescue teams remained uneven and many had no word on who was alive.

Foreign rescue crews and aid were only beginning to reach devastated areas nearly two days after the quakes, a delay that fueled frustration in La Guaira and nearby communities. Residents in some places dug through rubble by hand because heavy equipment was scarce, and roads into La Guaira city were ordered closed at 8 p.m. local time except for official and registered response teams, a restriction meant to unclog routes that were slowing operations.

One of the clearest signs of the human toll came from La Guaira city’s Hugo Chavez housing complex, where Jennifer Palacios, 25, said her 6-year-old son and five other relatives were still buried. The complex, an eight-tower development, became a focal point for neighbors and volunteers trying to clear debris before the window to find survivors closed further.

The disaster was triggered by a rare double earthquake, first a magnitude 7.2 shock followed seconds later by a 7.5 quake, which the authorities later described as Venezuela’s most powerful in more than a century. A weaker 4.9 aftershock was felt Friday afternoon in Caracas and nearby Maracay, adding to the fear in neighborhoods already damaged by the earlier shaking. The United Nations estimated direct damage at about $6.7 billion.

La Guaira, on Venezuela’s northern coast, was repeatedly identified as one of the hardest-hit areas, with collapsed concrete, blocked streets and broken communications slowing the flow of information as well as aid. The scale of the destruction has left emergency services stretched across Caracas and surrounding areas, while families continue to wait for names, locations and any sign that missing relatives might still be found alive.