US and Latin American Countries Send Humanitarian Aid to Caracas After Venezuela Earthquakes

Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday, with a magnitude 7.2 earthquake striking west of Caracas followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

“"We convened several ministers to coordinate the dispatch of all the necessary aid: drinking water, firefighters, civil defense, food, and medicines," Lula said at an event in which he called for solidarity with the Venezuelan people”

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Authorities raised their estimate of the death toll to 235 people and 4,300 injured, while Jorge Rodriguez said 200 people had been trapped and 250 buildings damaged or destroyed nationwide.

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Al Jazeera reported that the earthquakes left a preliminary toll of 188 dead, 1,520 injured, and 157 missing across multiple northern coastal states, with the double tremor separated by 39 seconds.

The New York Times said the United States and several Latin American countries would send humanitarian aid and rescue personnel to Caracas after the quakes killed at least 32 and injured hundreds more.

In Caracas, Venezuelan officials were trying to make the most of daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under collapsed buildings, according to the New York Daily News.

The United Nations’ aid chief Tom Fletcher told viewers, “To the Venezuelan people, to those whose loved ones are under the rubble, know that we are determined that help gets to you,” as UN-certified rescuers were dispatched.

In a televised message, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez said, “UN-certified rescuers will help search for survivors,” while Al Jazeera reported that the death toll cited by correspondents at three local hospitals was significantly higher than the 28 figure cited by the Bangladeshi government.

Al Jazeera

The United States pledged a “whole-of-government response” that would be “big… fast and… effective,” with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the response would be “big… fast and… effective.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced a field hospital and dozens of firefighters, saying, “We will send Friday morning a humanitarian search and urban rescue mission in a KC-390 plane,” with 36 firefighters and eight other specialists on board.

Meanwhile, the Malay Mail put the death toll at “at least 188 people dead and over 1,500 injured,” and said Switzerland mobilized 80 personnel, eight rescue dogs and 18 tonnes of equipment for Venezuela.

Brazil coordinated immediate humanitarian aid after a telephone call with Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, and said the first humanitarian mission would depart next Friday morning from Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo on a Brazilian Air Force KC-390.

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That flight was set to carry 36 specialized military firefighters, 4 technicians from the National Civil Protection and Defense, 4 telecommunication specialists from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), and 9 tons of advanced search and rescue equipment, according to teleSUR English.

A second military flight was scheduled for Saturday to deliver structural medical relief and ensure sanitary safety for displaced communities, including equipment to assemble a mobile field hospital, 100 solar-powered water purification units, and critical pharmaceutical supplies, teleSUR English reported.

The WPLG Local 10 report said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched an Emergency Appeal for 50 million Swiss francs ($61 million) and that the first 17 metric tons of humanitarian supplies left the IFRC’s regional humanitarian hub in Panama for Venezuela on Friday.

In parallel, the WPLG Local 10 report said the United States was sending $150 million in aid moving through the United Nations and nonprofit partners on the ground, while the European Union activated Copernicus satellite service to provide Venezuelans with satellite imagery and other geospatial data.