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The death toll from the earthquakes that struck Venezuela has risen to at least 164, with 971 others injured, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on Thursday as rescue efforts intensified in some of the country’s hardest-hit areas.
The twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, struck on Wednesday evening and rank among the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than 100 years. Tremors were felt across several countries in the region, prompting evacuations in areas as far away as Brazil’s Amazon region, nearly 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
State television broadcast dramatic scenes of rescue workers pulling three children alive from the rubble in La Guaira state. Covered in dust but unharmed, the children were among survivors found in what Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone”.
La Guaira, located on Venezuela’s northern coast, was among the worst-affected areas, suffering extensive structural damage and multiple building collapses.
Rodríguez said the government was redeploying emergency responders from across the country to bolster rescue operations in the state. Authorities are racing against time to locate and free people believed to still be trapped beneath collapsed structures.
“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there … and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodríguez said.
She also appealed to private companies to provide heavy-duty construction equipment to support the rescue mission, while noting that United Nations-certified search and rescue teams were en route to assist local authorities.
As the country begins to assess the scale of the destruction, Rodríguez announced the creation of a $200 million reconstruction fund to support the repair of damaged hospitals, homes and critical infrastructure. She said the ministers responsible for the economy and finance had been tasked with overseeing the initiative.
Although Venezuela lies near several fault lines, major earthquakes are relatively uncommon compared with other parts of Latin America because of the country’s location between the South American and Caribbean tectonic plates.
In a national address late Wednesday, Rodríguez declared a state of emergency, saying the earthquakes had caused significant damage across several states and would require a coordinated national response.
