Get you up to speed: Nearly 50,000 still missing after powerful twin earthquakes devastate Venezuela | News World
Twin earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck Venezuela on Thursday, resulting in at least 235 fatalities and nearly 50,000 people reported missing. Rescue missions are ongoing in areas surrounding the capital Caracas and La Guaira state, where significant damage has occurred.
Rescue operations are ongoing, with volunteers and officials searching for survivors amidst widespread destruction in La Guaira and Caracas. Authorities have reported that the earthquakes have displaced thousands, significantly complicating recovery efforts in the affected areas.
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared La Guaira a “disaster zone” in response to the severe effects of the twin earthquakes, while rescue efforts continue amid widespread damage and ongoing shortages of electricity. Residents, facing homelessness and scarcity of essential supplies, are actively participating in recovery efforts, with search teams digging through the rubble for survivors.
What remains unclear — It is not known how many people have been successfully rescued and how many remain trapped under debris.
Nearly 50,000 missing and 235 dead after twin earthquakes in Venezuela
Widespread rescue missions for survivors have continued after devastating earthquakes rocked Venezuela.
Nearly 50,000 people are missing and at least 235 people have died following magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes in and around the capital Caracas on Thursday.
The rare double strike, which were 39 seconds apart, was the strongest since 1900, according to the US Geological Survey.
Videos showed terrified people fleeing violently-shaking areas while buildings were reduced to rubble.
Volunteers search for survivors in a collapsed building following twin earthquakes in Caraballeda, La Guaira state (Picture: AFP)
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Thousands of people have been left homeless as a result.
A search team standing atop rubble caused by a large building collapse in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state(Picture: AFP)
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez said La Guaira, a coastal state adjoining Caracas, was a ‘disaster zone’.
Electricity is also scarce.
This map shows where the devastating quakes hit on Thursday (Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Yamileth Jiminez, who lives in La Guaira city, said her son, 19, is trapped under the debris of their seven-story block of flats.
She said: ‘He’s under the slabs and there’s no machinery to get him out’.
People have been digging through wreckage with their bare hands while teams of helpers have been carrying water, food and medicine across the Caracas-La Guaira highway.
Pedro Perez, 64, who owns an upholstery workshop, said: ‘We lost everything. We have no food or medicines. We hope help arrives quickly.’
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