By Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas
CARACAS, June 25 (Reuters) – Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around the capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings in Caracas as night fell, while distraught relatives sought help for loved ones feared trapped. Dazed survivors were taken away, some on stretchers.
“When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie,” said Maria Alejandra, a resident from a nearby building, who did not give her surname.
“We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbors coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out.”
WEBSITE SHOWS 10,000 PEOPLE UNACCOUNTED FOR
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said at least 164 people were confirmed dead and nearly 1,000 injured, and the worst-affected area was La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city’s airport. Witnesses’ footage there showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down.
“Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save,” she said on state television just before 1 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday.
“La Guaira state is a true tragedy, and has become a disaster zone.”
The U.S. Geological Survey, using predictive modeling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000.
A website set up to track missing people and posted on X by leaders from the country’s opposition, many of whom are outside Venezuela, listed more than 10,000 people as unaccounted for at 5.40 a.m. local time (0940 GMT).
Many Venezuelans were at home when the quakes struck during a public holiday.
“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, 56, who lives in eastern Caracas.
TRUMP OFFERS HELP
Aftershocks rattled Caracas into the early hours of Thursday.
Rodriguez said rescue crews from other countries would arrive soon as she thanked leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She called for unity in Venezuela, where anti-government protests by people facing annual inflation of more than 500% have become more frequent since Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a violent raid in January.
Trump said on social media that the U.S. was ready to help in the disaster, which he said had left a “devastating” number of deaths.
The U.N.’s Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift local restrictions on social media, saying it was a “matter of life and death”. In some areas, access was available as authorities struggled to cope in a country weighed down by years of economic mismanagement.
RESIDENTS RUSH INTO THE STREETS
Wilmer Azuaje, a former Venezuelan lawmaker, captured the moment the quake hit Maiquetia Airport, sending masonry and clouds of dust falling. He said the situation was “serious” and the airport had been closed, complicating rescue efforts.
Residents across Caracas, which was also hit by a deadly magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 1967, rushed to evacuate as buildings shook.
“As soon as it started, we began hearing people screaming,” said Astrid Ramirez, a 41-year-old publicist in western Caracas. “Everyone was running down the stairs.”
Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her get out of her home. “This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967,” she said.
Another resident, a 41-year-old office worker who declined to be named, said she received an earthquake alert on her phone just before the shaking intensified.
“As I picked it up and started listening to what it was saying, I first felt light shaking. Then, in less than two seconds, everything started moving.”
Leaders from countries including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Spain offered support and sympathy. The U.S. State Department said it was mobilizing assistance.
Venezuela lies in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate.
An estimated 30,000 people were killed when a quake caused widespread destruction in Merida and Caracas in 1812, according to the USGS.
STOCK EXCHANGE TO BE USED IN RESCUE EFFORTS
At Caracas’ Hospital de Clinicas, staff doubled up on the night shift to help treat the injured, a worker there said.
School classes were canceled for the rest of the week. The city’s stock exchange was closed and will be used to help rescue efforts.
The Venezuelan Red Cross said its headquarters had been critically damaged but that it had sent rescue teams to the worst-affected areas. France said its embassy was badly damaged.
Venezuela’s oil infrastructure did not immediately appear to have been affected. Civil protection authorities in Maracaibo, near the large oil hub of Lake Maracaibo, said no injuries were reported. A worker at the El Palito refinery near Morón — the earthquake’s epicenter — said there was no damage there.
UK oil firm Shell, which is evaluating developing gas fields in Venezuela, said all its employees were accounted for with no injuries.
One source said an extended loss of power could hit crude output levels. Venezuela’s oil ministry, state-run oil company PDVSA and its main foreign partner, Chevron, did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas in Caracas; Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Reuters TV in Caracas, Tibisay Romero in Valencia, Venezuela, Keren Torres in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Tathiana Ortiz in San Cristobal, Venezuela, Mariela Nava in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Marianna Parraga and Sheila Dang in Houston, Fabian Cambero in Santiago, Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City and Emma Farge in Geneva and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Kylie Madry, Julia Symmes Cobb and Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Lincoln Feast, Raju Gopalakrishnan, and Timothy Heritage)
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