The Latin American country of Venezuela shook again before recovering from last Wednesday’s pair of powerful earthquakes. Another strong earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck off the coast of the northern state of Aragua at 3:20 p.m. local time on Saturday.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said the new quake had its epicenter about 70 kilometers west of the capital Caracas. Although there were no immediate reports of major damage in the new earthquake, a series of aftershocks following Wednesday’s devastating pair of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes is causing panic across the country.
Meanwhile, four days have passed since the terrible disaster of last Wednesday, but rescue operations are still going on to rescue those trapped under the rubble. Officially, 1,430 deaths have been confirmed so far. But the most worrying thing is that about 51 thousand people are still missing.
As the first 72 hours pass after the earthquake, the chances of a miraculous rescue of someone alive from the rubble are diminishing, rescuers said. Many people are still believed to be trapped under hundreds of collapsed multi-storey buildings, houses and various commercial establishments including a collapsed supermarket in the Karabaleda area. As a result, the administration fears that the death toll will increase with time.
The country’s La Guaira state was hit hardest by Wednesday’s pair of earthquakes, which also affected parts of the capital, Caracas. In the midst of this extreme crisis, local angry residents have accused the Venezuelan government of extreme mismanagement in rescue and relief operations. Rescue operations are severely hampered in many areas due to complete disruption of mobile network and internet services. A foreign expert rescue team of 1,600 members from different countries of the world has already arrived in Venezuela to deal with the disaster.
The air in Venezuela is now heavy with the cries and wails of thousands of people waiting by the rubble in search of missing relatives.
Source: Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency
BD per day/KHT
