Powerful twin earthquakes have killed 32 people and injured more than 700, the nation’s interim president said Thursday, after the massive shocks collapsed entire buildings and sent people running in panic.
Authorities and average Venezuelans were clambering on piles of rubble in the hunt for survivors after the disaster that prompted leader Delcy Rodriguez to declare a state of emergency.
The earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck the same area of Venezuela on Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), causing buildings in the capital to crumble and forcing the closure of the country’s main airport.
Addressing the nation early Thursday, Rodriguez said, “At this time, we have received reports of 32 deaths” and “more than 700 injured,” adding she did not yet have data on the “hardest-hit region” of La Guaira, located near the capital.
Rodriguez earlier said 20 aftershocks had followed the twin earthquakes.
