CARACAS, Venezuela— Rescue workers and civilians rushed to pull survivors from the rubble on Thursday as Venezuela struggled to recover from a pair of earthquakes that toppled dozens of buildings, leaving at least 235 people dead, 4,300 injured and thousands homeless, sparking widespread panic.
The toll seemed certain to rise, as authorities reported that more than 200 people were trapped in the rubble and at least 157 were missing.
Many Venezuelans searched the rubble for their loved ones, while others took to social media in an effort to find family and friends who had gone missing in the disaster.
“We don't know anything about what happened to him and we are desperate,” Denise Casique wrote on Facebook, asking for help finding a missing friend. “If you have seen it, please send information.”
The main airport serving Caracas, the capital, closed after being severely damaged, delaying the entry of aid teams from the United States, Mexico and other nations that have promised to help.
“We are in a race against time to rescue” people trapped in the rubble, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, said in a message to the nation.
The double earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, occurred shortly after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, causing widespread electrical blackouts and gas supply cuts. In Caracas, home to some 3 million residents, many buildings were damaged and dozens of victims were reported.
Television and social media were filled with scenes of toppled and damaged buildings, including entire apartment blocks that appeared to be swaying as desperate residents camped in the streets.
The northern coastal state of La Guaira, which stretches along the Caribbean about 20 miles north of Caracas, appeared to be the hardest hit. It's a popular coastal getaway for residents of the busy capital.
The earthquakes occurred while many people were in the streets, in restaurants and cafes on La Guaira beach celebrating an annual festival marking the birth of Saint John the Baptist. The party turned somber after the tremors.
“Everyone here is doing what they can, but no specialized help has arrived,” said José Pirela, 30, a fisherman from La Guaira who was among the many people who joined makeshift rescue teams digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings. “The only thing we can do is remove stones and debris with our hands. We need help. People are very afraid.”
Many people still seemed in shock. Thousands of people slept in the streets of the most affected areas.
“The earth shook, the street rose,” recalled Arturo Rivero, who had gone to spend the day with his family in La Guaira to enjoy the beach. “It was terrible… When the shaking stopped, we started to see the devastation: collapsed buildings, hysterical people, screaming. Massive destruction along the beach avenue, people trying to help others trapped in the buildings.”
The United States is deploying search and rescue teams from Los Angeles and Fairfax County, Virginia, to Venezuela to assist in recovery efforts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Bahrain.
Because the airport is severely damaged, the United States Department of Defense will be in charge of deploying the assets in the country, Rubio said.
“We're also helping them with some aerial imagery, especially in coastal areas where they don't have full visibility of what the damage has been or what the impact has been,” he said.
Rubio said the United States will know how to help Venezuela's long-term recovery in the next 48 hours, when the extent of damage to the country's infrastructure will be better understood.
The first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, occurred at 6:04 p.m. with its epicenter approximately halfway between San Felipe, the capital of the state of Yaracuy, and the coastal city of Morón, according to the United States Geological Survey. The second, magnitude 7.5, occurred 39 seconds later with the epicenter about four miles to the east.
The second earthquake produced almost triple the energy of the first, and the fault ruptured eastward for more than 100 miles, sending seismic energy directly to the international airport and La Guaira.
The earthquakes, which may end up being the deadliest to hit Venezuela in almost a century, represent another tough challenge for the Washington-backed government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez. He took office this year after U.S. forces stormed the capital in a predawn raid on Jan. 3 and arrested his predecessor, Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro and his wife were flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges, which they deny. His forced departure and the rise of Rodríguez turned Venezuela from a US adversary into a nation whose leadership now works closely with the Trump administration.
Many Venezuelans have already expressed disappointment that the economic improvements expected after the US intervention have not materialized.
Venezuela, an oil-rich country of 28 million people that long was among the richest nations in Latin America, has suffered a decade of economic decline and mass emigration.
US officials have blamed the corrupt and incompetent leadership of leftist Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, both long-time antagonists of the United States. Before his arrest, Maduro and his supporters blamed the free fall of the country's economy on the punishment of US sanctions that have strangled the economy.
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas and Times editor McDonnell from Mexico City. Times staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II in San Francisco and Ana Ceballos in Washington and special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.
