LA GUAIRA/CARACAS: Rescue teams and desperate residents continued searching for survivors on Friday after powerful twin earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela, with the death toll rising to nearly 1,000 and hundreds still feared trapped under rubble.
The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck around 160 kilometres west of Caracas, causing widespread destruction in the capital region and coastal areas, particularly in La Guaira, where at least 100 buildings collapsed, including high-rise apartment complexes.
Government officials said 920 people have been confirmed dead so far, with 3,360 injured, while hundreds remain missing. Authorities estimate that a large number of people are still trapped under debris. A reporting platform for missing persons has listed more than 50,000 names, according to official figures cited on Friday.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has warned that the disaster could ultimately result in more than 10,000 deaths, potentially making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in Latin America in recent history.
Rescue operations have been hampered by a shortage of heavy machinery, with residents in affected areas reporting that most recoveries are being carried out by volunteers using basic tools.
Survivors described scenes of devastation, including collapsed residential blocks in La Guaira’s Hugo Chavez housing complex, where entire families were buried under rubble. Many residents said they were still hearing voices from beneath debris and appealed urgently for cranes and specialised rescue equipment.
“Its the community that has managed to get people out alive,” said one resident, adding that formal rescue efforts remained insufficient in several areas.
Reuters witnesses reported extensive damage across highways and residential zones, with roads cracked and buildings reduced to concrete and twisted steel. Some structures were marked with spray-painted names to assist rescue teams.
While the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez has pledged large-scale rescue and relief operations, response efforts have been uneven, with heavy military and police presence in some areas and limited official support in others.
Rodriguez said La Guaira state would be militarised to facilitate rescue operations and claimed that 2,600 tons of food had been distributed. However, residents and volunteers continued to complain about delays in the arrival of forensic teams and heavy equipment.
International assistance has begun arriving nearly two days after the disaster. Rescue teams and aid supplies have been sent from multiple countries, including Mexico, Spain, Colombia, El Salvador, India, and Switzerland, along with humanitarian support from the United States.
The US has also announced $150 million in aid and deployed military resources, including ships and aircraft, to assist search-and-rescue operations.
Despite extensive international mobilisation, rescue teams in the worst-hit areas, including the Coral Mar complex in Los Corales, have yet to confirm any survivors from several collapsed buildings, though reports from residents suggest some individuals may still be alive beneath the debris.
Officials from El Salvador’s rescue team said they were using drones, heat scanners, and search dogs, but had not yet recovered survivors from the site.
The disaster has struck Venezuela at a time of prolonged economic and political instability, which has already weakened infrastructure and displaced millions of citizens.
Nearly 7 million people could be affected, according to estimates from the United Nations migration agency, which is providing emergency shelter and relief supplies.
Until now, Venezuela’s deadliest earthquake on record was the 1967 Caracas quake, which killed 240 people.