2 quakes jolt Venezuela: Official toll 188, thousands feared dead as rescuers search rubble for survivors

Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160km west of Caracas Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey. The agency called it a “seismic doublet” – two earthquakes of similar magnitude striking the same region in close succession. Many Venezuelans were at home when the quakes struck during a public holiday.President of Venezuela’s national assembly Jorge Rodriguez said at least 188 people had been killed, and 1,520 injured. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took over after Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a raid in Jan, said the govt was working with businesses to deploy heavy machinery to help those trapped. La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city’s airport, was worst affected. Witnesses’ footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down in the airport and rubble from destroyed buildings lined the seafront.“We are carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to,” the interim president said on state TV, declaring a state of emergency. agenciesUSGS model estimates quake toll in thousandsShe said the govt was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes, and had instructed the economy and finance ministers to oversee the effort. “La Guaira state is a true tragedy, and has become a disaster zone,” she said.Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings in Caracas as night fell, while distraught relatives sought help for loved ones feared trapped. Dazed survivors were taken away, some on stretchers. “When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie,” said Maria Alejandra, a resident from a nearby building, who did not give her surname. “We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out.”Houses collapsed near the quake’s epicentre in Moron, a small seaside town in the state of Carabobo, where there was no water or electricity. Three children were among at least eight killed in the area, mayor Emily Riera said.The US Geological Survey, using predictive modeling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000. A website set up to track missing people by leaders from the country’s opposition, many of whom are outside Venezuela, listed more than 24,000 people as unaccounted for at 10.40am local time. Rodriguez said rescue crews from other countries would arrive soon and thanked leaders, including US President Trump and Russian President Putin. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said rescue teams were being deployed and the Pentagon would send assets to the damaged airport.Other cities and towns close to Caracas affected by the quake, including El Junquito and La Guaira, remained without power on Thursday morning, increasing the challenges. The UN’s Venezuela human rights mission urged the govt to lift restrictions on social media, saying it was a “matter of life and death”. Access became available in some areas of the country, where cell services are unreliable.Residents across Caracas, where infrastructure was already crumbling due to lack of investment, rushed to evacuate as buildings shook. Buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700km from Caracas. Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her out of her home. “This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967,” she said, referring to a magnitude 6.3 quake that the USGS said killed 240 people. In La Guaira, a man wearing only shorts climbed down the face of an apartment building tilted at a dangerous angle as a crowd watched.Venezuela lies in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate. An estimated 30,000 people were killed when a quake caused widespread destruction in Merida and Caracas in 1812, according to the USGS. agencies