Venezuela earthquakes death toll climbs as rescue efforts continue : NPR

Residents walk amid the rubble of a building damaged in earthquakes the previous day in Catia La Mar, Venezuela.

Pedro Mattey/AP

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Pedro Mattey/AP

BOGOTA, Colombia — It took less than a minute for two powerful earthquakes to strike Venezuela on Wednesday evening. Two days later, firefighters, soldiers and volunteers are still digging through collapsed buildings in Caracas and surrounding areas.

On Friday, the Venezuela’s National Assembly president, Jorge Rodríguez, said in a televised briefing that the death toll had climbed to 920, with 3,360 injured. He said hundreds of homes were seriously damaged or totally destroyed.

With emergency resources stretched thin, volunteers have been arriving at disaster sites carrying their own shovels, hammers and basic tools to assist rescue efforts.

“In a place like this you just feel shocked. I don’t even feel like taking photos,” said volunteer Sebastian Arias, who described moving between neighborhoods where buildings had also collapsed. Arias said some sites were overcrowded with volunteers while others appeared to lack help and equipment.

Entire neighborhoods across Caracas and northern coastal states have been left in ruins, with international assistance now arriving to support overwhelmed local responders.

The last earthquake of comparable scale to hit Caracas occurred in 1967, when more than 200 people were killed in a magnitude 6.7 quake.

Wednesday’s quakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, were felt across at least five northern states along the Caribbean coast, where strong earthquakes are relatively rare.

Residents described scenes of chaos as buildings swayed, glass shattered and people rushed into the streets.

“Everything was moving. My flower vases were crashing on the floor, and even paintings were falling off the walls … I had never experienced something like this,” said resident Claudia Castillo.

Ana Soffer lives in Los Palos Grandes, a neighborhood in Caracas where at least three buildings collapsed. She was driving past the shopping mall when the first earthquake struck.

“I saw people running from inside the mall. I saw a big cloud of sand, and I decided to breathe, to do breathing exercises because all my body was shaking,” she said.

While damage has been reported across the capital and several northern states, authorities say the worst destruction is centered in La Guaira, the port city that serves as the main gateway to the capital.