LA GUAIRA, Venezuela -- In cities across northern Venezuela, neighbours helped each other dig through rubble to search for loved ones, after back-to-back earthquakes killed at least 589 people and left thousands injured.
Acting president Delcy Rodriguez announced the new toll early Friday, surrounded by government and military officials as she welcomed the arrival of rescue crews from all over the world.
“We are going to rescue the people who are trapped,” she said. “We are working tirelessly on this task.”
She said the state of La Guaira has been hardest hit by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening, noting that it has been militarized as crews search for survivors and distribute food and water.
The number of casualties is expected to climb with thousands reported missing and frantic rescue efforts continuing.
Rodriguez noted that crews have rescued dozens of people, saying, “It brings us joy that they can embrace their families and loved ones.”
The injured were pulled out covered in dust and blood, among them children. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab with only a bare foot poking out before rescuers slid her out alive. But few government search teams were initially seen outside Caracas.
The International Organization for Migration said that up to 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected by the quakes, some two million of them in Caracas alone. Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross’ regional director for the Americas, said “people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes.”
Venezuelans reeling from quakes
Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead. Buildings were flattened and streets cracked open.
Families posted missing-person flyers with photos of while others shared handwritten lists of names. Venezuelans abroad struggled to make contact with relatives due to interrupted phone service in the country.
In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
A mother of three, Dayana Delgado, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised and said residents were the ones digging through crumpled buildings.
“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her missing eight-year-old son.
Another mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her three- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of the missing. Some stood in silent shock.
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters: A 1999 mudslide killed thousands and is considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carreno stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.
“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”
Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendano climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.
“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” Mendano said. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”
Media reports have shared notable moments of hope among the destruction, including a young man brought out on a stretcher in the San Bernardino district of Caracas to the applause of onlookers as his tearful mother said, “Leandro, I love you.”
Venezuelan TV broadcast video of a girl covered in dust and wrapping herself in a dark sweatshirt as she emerged from rubble with the help of rescuers. Caracas metropolitan rescue team head Jose Luis Nunez said she was found in a 10-story building in La Guaira that collapsed and flattened “like a pancake.”
“We want to highlight this girl’s strength, determination and will to live,” Nunez said.
Government and rescuers face huge challenges
The natural disaster is the latest challenge for Rodriguez, the former vice-president who took office in January after the capture and removal from power of then-president Nicolas Maduro by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodriguez represents.
Rodriguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a US$200-million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.
While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
The U.S. Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centred near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometres west of Caracas. The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.
Shortly after UN officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.
Foreign governments offer assistance
Some 1,000 emergency responders in 25 search-and-rescue teams from across the globe are deploying to Venezuela, said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodriguez following the quake, said the United States was immediately deploying assistance.
“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big; it’ll be fast; and it’ll be effective,” Rubio said, while acknowledging the closure of Venezuela’s main airport near Caracas created logistical challenges.
Venezuelan TV on Friday showed the arrival of rescuers with dogs and equipment, including cameras and ground-penetrating radar, from Spain. Teams from Germany, Chile and Switzerland also landed. Turkey announced two flights will leave Istanbul on Friday with rescuers and a pair of search dogs. China also said it will provide assistance. Leaders from Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada vowed to send help.
Rescue teams from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived in Venezuela on Thursday, along with rescuers and material aid from Mexico.
“No country is prepared to provide the response that’s needed. That’s what neighbouring countries are there for,” Dominican air force Maj. Carlos Olivares said.
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By Megan Janetsky, Andry Rincon And Juan Pablo Arraez
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Julie Watson in San Diego, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, India Grant in Mexico City, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkiye, and Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed to this report.
