Venezuela experienced one of the most destructive earthquakes in its recent history this Wednesday: a magnitude 7.1 tremor —later raised to 7.5 by the United States Geological Survey— shook the country at 6:04 PM local time, with the epicenter located 21 kilometers west of Morón, in the state of Carabobo, resulting in collapsed buildings, panic scenes in Caracas, and the first confirmed fatalities.
According to information disseminated by teleSUR, the mayor of the municipality Chacao, Gustavo Duque, was one of the first officials to confirm fatalities, without specifying an exact number, and reported the collapse of at least two structures in Los Palos Grandes, in the east of the capital.
Rescue teams managed to extract 16 injured individuals from the rubble in that area.
Duque warned that Los Palos Grandes is not a safe area due to possible aftershocks and urged the population to wait for the evaluation of infrastructure before returning to their homes.
The first earthquake was followed, just 40 seconds later, by a main aftershock of magnitude 7.5, and then by more than 20 additional tremors.
The movement originated 13.2 kilometers deep and was felt strongly in Caracas, Maracay, Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo, and other Venezuelan cities, as well as in Bogotá, Medellín, and other Colombian cities.
Among the collapsed buildings in Caracas are the Petunia residential building, which has 14 floors, and the Bancaribe building.
A witness, Michael Alicastro, reported having helped rescue five people and a pet from the Petunia building. In the state of Miranda, over 90 structures were affected.
The Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, confirmed several landslides, described "alarming situations," and ordered the suspension of direct gas service to the buildings. "We have some damaged structures, and we do not want any type of accident with the gas to occur," he explained.
The acting president Delcy Rodríguez declared a national state of emergency in a brief televised speech, suspended school activities, and activated the National Protection System. Without providing casualty figures, she stated: "To those who have regrettably suffered the loss of a loved one, we extend our immediate condolences."
Several areas of Caracas were left without electricity. Survivor testimonies collected by AFP reflect the terror experienced. "The stairs fell off, the entire wall cracked."
"Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible," recounted Odalis Escalona, 54 years old. Carmen Guédez, 69, described, "It started to intensify. I began to see how the windows started to move and then everything shook."
The outlook could be devastating. According to , the United States Geological Survey has established a 44% probability that the death toll will exceed 10,000 people, and estimated economic losses of between 2% and 20% of the Venezuelan GDP.
More than 500,000 people were exposed to severe shaking levels, and about 117,000 to violent levels.
The USGS seismologist Paul Earle described the earthquakes as "devastating" and warned the New York Times that "the number of fatalities could range from over 1,000 to tens of thousands."
The neighborhoods of Altamira and Los Palos Grandes, in the municipality of Chacao, were precisely the areas most affected by the Caracas earthquake of 1967, which resulted in 236 fatalities. The earthquake this Wednesday is the strongest recorded in Venezuela in decades.
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