CARACAS, June 25 — 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.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160km west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor.
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. We had to climb over the rubble and everything.
"The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out," said Maria Alejandra, a resident from a nearby building, who did not give her surname.
Website shows 10,000 people unaccounted for
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said at least 164 people were confirmed dead, and nearly 1,000 were injured, and the government was working with businesses to deploy heavy machinery to accelerate efforts to help those still trapped.
The worst-affected area was La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city's airport. Witnesses' footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down in the airport and rubble from destroyed buildings along the seafront.
"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.
"La Guaira state is a true tragedy, and has become a disaster zone," Rodriguez said on state television just before 1am local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday.
Houses collapsed near the quake's epicentre in Morón, a small seaside town in the state of Carabobo, where there was no water or electricity. Its municipal mayor Emily Riera told Reuters that three children were among at least eight killed in the area.
The USGS, using predictive modelling 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 (formerly Twitter) by leaders from the country's opposition, many of whom are outside Venezuela, listed more than 10,000 people as unaccounted for at 5.40am 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 have never experienced anything like it," said Coro Martinez, 56, who lives in eastern Caracas.
Pentagon to deploy assets to badly damaged airport
Rodriguez said rescue crews from other countries would arrive soon and thanked leaders including United States (US) President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She called for unity in Venezuela, where anti-government protests over annual inflation of more than 500 per cent have become more frequent since Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolás Maduro in a violent raid in January.
Trump said there had been a "devastating" number of deaths. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said search and rescue teams were being deployed and the Pentagon would deploy assets to the damaged airport.
Other cities and towns close to Caracas affected by the quake, including El Junquito and La Guaira, remained without power on Thursday morning, increasing challenges for rescue workers.
The United Nations' Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift restrictions on social media, saying it was a "matter of life and death". Access became available in some areas of the country, where cell services are unreliable.
Residents rush into the streets
Residents across Caracas, where infrastructure was already crumbling due to a lack of investment, rushed to evacuate as buildings shook.
"As soon as it started, we began hearing people screaming. Everyone was running down the stairs," said Astrid Ramirez, a 41-year-old publicist in western Caracas.
Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her out of her home.
"This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967," she said, referring to a magnitude 6.3 quake that killed 240 people.
Venezuela lies in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate.
According to the USGS, an estimated 30,000 people were killed when a quake caused widespread destruction in Merida and Caracas in 1812.
Stock exchange to be used in rescue efforts
At Caracas' Hospital de Clinicas, a worker there said that the staff doubled up on the night shift to help treat the injured.
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 sent rescue teams to the worst-affected areas. France said its embassy was badly damaged.
A local firefighter chief said that near the epicentre, workers were restarting operations at the Morón Petrochemical Complex, Venezuela's second-largest in terms of operations, after being told not to come in while damage was being assessed.
Other oil infrastructure appeared to be unaffected.
Chevron, the main foreign partner of Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA, said all employees were accounted for and operations were continuing. United Kingdom oil firm Shell, which is evaluating the development of gas fields in Venezuela, said all its employees were unharmed.
