The death toll from the earthquake in Venezuela rises to 589, thousands injured – National
In towns in northern Venezuela, neighbors are helping each other dig through rubble in search of loved ones, after a series of earthquakes killed at least 589 people and left thousands injured.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced the new figure early Friday, surrounded by government and military officials as she welcomed the arrival of rescuers from around the world.
“We will rescue the trapped people,” he said. “We are working hard on this project.”
He said the situation in La Guaira was hit hard by the 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening, and said there was a battle as workers searched for survivors and distributed food and water.
The death toll is expected to rise as thousands are reported missing and intensive rescue efforts continue.
Rodríguez noted that the workers saved a lot of people, saying, “It brings us joy that they can welcome their families and loved ones.”
The injured were taken out covered in dust and blood, among them there were children. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescuers, including a woman trapped under a concrete strike who was pulled out by foot before rescuers pulled her out alive. But few government search parties were initially seen outside Caracas.
The International Organization for Migration said that about 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected by the earthquake, about two million of them in Caracas alone. Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross’ regional director for America, said “people are still afraid to go back into their homes.”
The people of Venezuela are shaken by the earthquake
Many were shocked on Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging from windows and helicopters circling overhead. Buildings were flattened and roads opened up.
Families posted missing person flyers with pictures while others shared handwritten lists of names. Venezuelans abroad have struggled to communicate with relatives due to phone outages in the country.
In downtown Caracas, hundreds spend the night crammed into parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
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The mother of three children, Dayana Delgado, asked where the heavy equipment promised by government officials was and she said that the residents are the ones digging up the collapsed buildings.
“I want to know where my child is, if he is trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her missing 8-year-old son.
One mother cried until she fainted from grief when the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and taken away. Others called out the names of the missing. Others stood in 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: The 1999 mudslide killed thousands of people and is considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his burnt house in one direction.
“I lost everything,” he said. “There are still people inside, I think, who couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly painful.”
Retired teacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through the rubble in La Guaira and passed a body when he saw a woman trapped and showing her hand for help.
“May God rescue him soon,” said Mendaño. “When we heard screaming, there was nothing we could do.”
Media reports shared notable moments of hope amid the carnage, including a young man being strangled in the San Bernardino region of Caracas to cheers from onlookers as his sobbing mother said, “Leandro, I love you.”
Venezuelan TV aired a video of a girl covered in dust and wrapped in a black shirt as she was pulled from the rubble with the help of rescuers. The head of the Caracas city rescue team, José Luis Núñez, said he was found in a 10-story building in La Guaira that collapsed and flattened “like a cake.”
“We want to highlight the strength of this girl, her determination and her will to live,” said Núñez.
The government and rescuers are facing huge challenges
The natural disaster is the latest challenge for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after former President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped and removed from power by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic instability for more than a decade and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement that Rodríguez represents.
Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in his address to the nation on Wednesday. He said the government is creating a $200 million fund to rebuild damaged hospitals and homes.
While Venezuela sits along many fault lines, its location across the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes less common than in other parts of Latin America.
The US Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centered near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. One of the two earthquakes, combined with shallow earthquakes, increased the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geologist and researcher with the Geological Survey of Brazil.
“It’s like I’m yelling and someone is yelling, too. That increases the vibration and adds to the potential danger,” Ferreira said.
Soon after UN officials in Venezuela asked the government to lift restrictions on social media to allow people to access potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans had access to X. The area had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information between those who rejected his claim to victory in the July presidential election.
Foreign governments provide aid
About 1,000 other emergency workers from 25 search and rescue teams around the world have moved to Venezuela, said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodríguez following the earthquake, said the US was sending aid immediately.
“We have a government-wide response. It will be big; it will be fast; and it will work,” Rubio said, while admitting the closure of Venezuela’s main airport near Caracas created transportation 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 came. Turkey announced two flights would leave Istanbul on Friday with rescuers and search dogs. China also said it would provide aid. The leaders of Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada have vowed to send aid.
Rescue teams from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived in Venezuela on Thursday, along with rescuers and supplies from Mexico.
“No country is ready to give the necessary response. That’s what the neighboring countries are,” said Dominican military Maj. Carlos Olivares.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, India Grant in Mexico City, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed to this report.
