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Twin quakes, mounting death toll
Powerful twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening, with a 7.2-magnitude quake followed by a 7.5-magnitude quake, and the death toll climbed to 1,719 people, Venezuelan lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said.
“The death toll in Venezuela has climbed to 1,719”
CNN said it was on the ground in La Guaira and Caracas as teams dug through rubble, and it reported that search efforts produced moments of jubilation including the rescue of an infant and a woman trapped for over three days.
NBC News reported that Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo lost his wife and two young children in the earthquakes, and it said Trejo described searching for his family “going through the rubble with my hands.”
In La Guaira, the hardest-hit area, NPR described local residents in Los Corales passing the hat to pay for a backhoe after the government backhoe operator never showed up, while Rosalia Bustamante said, “But now, they are dead.”
Disputes over response
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado accused the government of trying to keep Venezuelans in the dark about the scale of the emergency, and CNN quoted her saying, “authorities were trying to keep Venezuelans in the dark about the scale of the emergency.”
NPR reported that frustration was growing in Venezuela after the quakes, and it quoted Rosalia Bustamante saying, “There were people in the ruins responding when we called out to them.”
NPR also quoted Julio Meléndez, who tried to bring in a jackhammer, saying, “The only thing the authorities do is get in the way,” as police required permits and sales receipts.
In Caracas and La Guaira, the Guardian reported that a strong aftershock early on Monday—measured at a magnitude of 4.6 by the US Geological Survey and 5.1 by Colombia’s geological survey—sent residents racing back onto the streets and shut down several lines of the Caracas metro again.
Aftershocks, displacement, aid
Five days after the twin quakes, a strong aftershock rattled northern Venezuela, and the Guardian said it shook Caracas and La Guaira while rescue crews were still hoping to pull survivors from rubble.
“Hundreds of displaced families from Caracas and beyond have been camping out in Parque del Este”
The Guardian reported that hundreds of displaced families camped out in Parque del Este, a 200-acre park in the east of the capital, and it quoted Katiuska Asuaje saying, “Life is worth more than anything else.”
AP reported that more than 100 Venezuelans deported from the United States were missing after earthquakes struck Venezuela, and it said a deportation flight from Miami arrived in Venezuela hours before Wednesday’s earthquakes.
UN News said UNICEF estimated 680,000 children were in need of assistance, and it quoted UNICEF Representative in Venezuela Manuel Rodríguez Pumarol saying, “Hospitals are operating beyond capacity, thousands of children lack reliable access to clean water.”
