Roofs collapsing onto passengers, screams, and darkness: this is how those who were at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía experienced the two earthquakes measuring 7.1 and 7.5 that shook Venezuela on Wednesday, June 24, which have so far resulted in 164 fatalities and more than 900 injuries, according to a recent report from Delcy Rodríguez in a phone call with the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
A video shared on social media captured the chaos inside the airport: passengers running in different directions down the aisles while pieces of the ceiling fell around them. Journalist Gitanjali Suárez from Unión Radio, who was in the security area preparing to travel, described it plainly: "The ceilings were falling on people."
In addition to the damaged roofs, the two earthquakes that shook Venezuela left the counters of the airline Conviasa devastated, collapsed pedestrian bridges in the parking lot, and caused damage to the access highway to Caracas. Passengers reported at least five aftershocks following the main quake.
The acting president Delcy Rodríguez announced the complete closure of the terminal with no date set for reopening: "The Maiquetía airport is closed due to severe damage to its infrastructure." She also suspended operations of the Caracas Metro and the Tuy Valley Railway for inspections of potential structural damage.
In Caracas, the damage was particularly severe in the eastern part of the capital. At least two buildings collapsed: the 14-story Petunia residential building in Los Palos Grandes, and a Bancaribe building in Altamira. More than 90 structures were affected in the state of Miranda.
The Minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello described "alarming situations" in those areas and ordered the preventive suspension of natural gas supply in buildings in the capital: "We have some damaged structures and we do not want any type of accident with the gas to occur."
The terrifying scenes replayed at various locations in the city. Heidi Romero, a 42-year-old merchant who was at Sambil in Chacao, recounted: "I don't even know how long it lasted. I was on the top floor. We went down the emergency stairs; that's how we got out." Odalis Escalona, a 54-year-old bank employee, described: "The stairs detached, the entire wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling. It was terrible." María Romero, an 80-year-old retiree, told Reuters: "The building was shaking. The police helped me down because I couldn't."
Rodríguez declared a constitutional state of emergency across the entire country, suspended school classes, and announced the creation of a fund of 200 million dollars to address the crisis. La Guaira was declared a "disaster zone," and authorities warned that the casualty figures are "preliminary" and could rise, as full access to the area had not yet been achieved.
The United States Geological Survey estimates between 10,000 and 100,000 possible fatalities with a 42% probability according to its automatic alert system PAGER, which assigned a maximum level of red alert. This is a probabilistic estimate, not a real count, but it reflects the magnitude of the disaster on an infrastructure already deteriorated by years of economic crisis.
The United States announced the immediate dispatch of rescue equipment and humanitarian aid to Venezuela. Rescue efforts are ongoing as authorities warn that the numbers of deceased and injured may change as access is gained to still-unreachable areas.
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