Rescue crews worked through unstable debris, collapsed buildings and damaged infrastructure Thursday as powerful twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, killing at least 32 people and injuring more than 700, with officials warning the toll is expected to rise as teams reach areas still cut off by damage and communication failures.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said the government was still gathering information from remote and heavily damaged regions, including coastal areas near the capital, where entire neighborhoods remained difficult to access.
“At this time, we have received reports of 32 deaths and more than 700 injured,” Rodriguez said in a national address, adding that authorities had not yet established the full scale of destruction in the hardest-hit zones.
The earthquakes, measured at magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 by the U.S. Geological Survey, struck within seconds of each other Wednesday evening off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. The shallow depth and short interval between the quakes intensified their impact, sending strong tremors across multiple states and into Caracas, where buildings swayed violently and some structures collapsed.
Early assessments indicated widespread structural damage in residential and commercial districts. Multi-story buildings lost facades, roads cracked and debris filled streets as residents rushed outside in panic. Power outages and mobile network disruptions left many unable to contact relatives or emergency services for hours.
