Venezuela Earthquakes Kill At Least 188, Injure 1,500 as Rescuers Search La Guaira

A pair of powerful earthquakes rocked Venezuela on Wednesday evening, killing at least 188 people and injuring some 1,500, with the toll likely to keep rising as rescuers continued to access devastated areas.

“Live coverage: Earthquake in Venezuela, deaths, missing, injured and latest updates today”

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The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblors had magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, and CBS News reported that La Guaira on the nation’s northern coast was the hardest hit state.

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Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said, "Dozens of buildings have collapsed and we are engaged in the arduous task of rescuing the lives that God allows us to save," describing La Guaira as a disaster zone.

Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, put the latest toll at 188 dead and over 1,520 injured, while NBC News said the earthquakes prompted a state of emergency and led to the closure of the airport in Caracas.

The quakes were felt across the region as far as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,050 miles from Caracas, and they briefly triggered tsunami advisories in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before those advisories were later canceled.

As rescue efforts raced through collapsed areas in Caracas and La Guaira, a non-profit rescue group helping evacuate Americans from Venezuela told the BBC the situation was "dangerous and complicated" and that communications were a major challenge.

Bryan Stern, founder of Grey Bull Rescue based in Florida, said, "Lots of people are hurt and in need, and they literally can't even ask for help," adding that the people on the ground needed clothes, comms, and places to live.

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International response included the U.S. deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the response would be "big, it’ll be fast, and it’ll be effective."

NBC News reported the U.S. State Department mobilizing $150 million in aid for Venezuela, including a $100 million contribution to a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs fund.

In Caracas, Venezuelans remained outside for hours after sunset, and NPR described people waiting in the street with pets as dust gathered around them and aftershocks threatened further damage.

NPR reported that USGS modeling estimated deaths could be in the thousands to tens of thousands, while economic losses could reach billions to tens of billions of dollars, as search and rescue continued under the threat of ongoing aftershocks.

Jorge Rodriguez said there were at least 138 aftershocks following the earthquakes Wednesday, and NPR reported that seismologists expected they would continue in the coming days.

USGS modeling cited by NPR also put a 40% chance that in the next week a 6-magnitude or larger earthquake would strike in the same region, and it described an "almost certainty" of an earthquake measuring at least a magnitude 5.

The BBC reported that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent a solidarity message saying, "Spain is prepared to help," and announced rescue teams were being dispatched to Venezuela.

With the main airport in La Guaira damaged and closed, and with the state of emergency declared by Delcy Rodriguez, the sources framed the immediate stakes as getting people out of rubble and delivering shelter, water, and sanitation where buildings had collapsed.