Venezuela Earthquakes Kill Dozens As Rescuers Race To Find Survivors

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

CARACAS (Worthy News) – Rescuers raced to find survivors Thursday after two powerful earthquakes shook the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seconds apart, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

The country’s Interim President Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez confirmed that at least 32 people died and 700 were injured in the 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude quakes.

She said the hardest-hit area was La Guaira state, north of Caracas, where “dozens” of buildings collapsed.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) earlier estimated there was a 44 percent probability that the final death toll could exceed 10,000 and a 30 percent chance it could surpass 100,000, based on its Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER).

In 1967, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck Caracas, killing more than 200 people and destroying buildings in the Palos Grandes and Altamira districts.

HISTORIC EARTHQUAKES

But Thursday’s earthquakes felt even stronger, according to residents who had lived through the devastating 1967 disaster.

“There was a very loud crash. Things fell in the house, jugs inside the refrigerator. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said Coro Martinez, a 56-year-old resident of eastern Caracas.

That was no surprise, as one of the earthquakes was the strongest to strike Venezuela since 1900, according to USGS records.

The USGS catalog shows that a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Venezuela’s coast on October 29, 1900, killing about 140 people and injuring more than 50 others. Known as the “San Narciso earthquake,” it is considered the last great earthquake of the 19th century and the largest instrumentally recorded in the country.

Now, 126 years later, video footage obtained by Worthy News showed people rushing to safety as buildings shook violently. Several structures collapsed under the force of the powerful tremors.

RESIDENTS TRAPPED

The latest earthquakes struck the metropolitan area of Caracas, home to about 3 million people, in a nation of nearly 29 million residents, raising fears that the number of casualties could climb sharply as rescuers reached some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods.

Emotional residents watched as rescuers risked their lives to free people—and even pets—from collapsed or heavily damaged homes while desperate cries for help echoed through the rubble.

Eighty-year-old pensioner Maria Romero said the latest disaster surpassed anything she had previously experienced.

“This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967,” she said.

Caracas-based journalist Luis Hernandez said he was forced to flee his apartment with his dog after the twin earthquakes struck.

FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY

His apartment building suffered structural damage during what he described as “terribly horrifying” shaking.

Hernandez said assessing the destruction would be difficult because Venezuela’s prolonged economic crisis has weakened infrastructure and emergency response capabilities.

“Due to the economic crisis in the country, it is very difficult for us to assess the damage in the country,” he said, adding that widespread power outages and internet failures were complicating efforts to determine the full scale of the disaster.

“But we are getting a sense that around the country everyone is now not in their apartments, or their buildings, but on the lower floors trying to escape the possibility of the buildings falling down,” Hernandez explained. “There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear, because I don’t think, as Venezuelans, we were prepared for this.”

World leaders were quick to respond, expressing solidarity with Venezuela and offering humanitarian assistance.

GLOBAL AID

French President Emmanuel Macron extended his condolences to the victims and their families, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged Spain’s full support for those affected by the disaster.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing stood ready to provide assistance if requested and added there were no immediate reports of Chinese casualties.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said his country had 300 rescuers and paramedics, along with 50 tons of equipment, medicines, and emergency supplies, ready for deployment to Caracas.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said he had instructed “all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was immediately preparing search-and-rescue teams, humanitarian assistance, and medical resources to help victims.

The global support came as rescue efforts continued across the affected region, with emergency crews warning that the death toll was expected to rise as they searched collapsed buildings and isolated communities.

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