Caracas/At least 32 people have died and more than 700 have been injured in Venezuela due to the double earthquake of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale that occurred in the north of the country, as announced by the president in charge of the country, Delcy Rodríguez, who has warned that the figures do not include the balance of the state of La Guaira, which she has described as a “disaster zone” with “dozens of collapsed buildings.”
“At this time we have reports of 32 deaths, without even counting the figures that the state of La Guaira can provide, and more than 700 injured that we have been receiving in emergencies from both public hospitals and private health centers,” the president in charge announced in a speech addressed to the nation. It is feared that the number of deaths will rise significantly.
In his appearance, before even sharing the balance of victims, he warned that “the state most affected by this unprecedented seismic phenomenon is the state of La Guaira”, where there are “dozens of collapsed buildings.” “We can say that the state of La Guaira is a true tragedy and is becoming a disaster zone.”
The earthquake that occurred around the Aroa mountain range, in the northwest of Venezuela, and followed by twenty aftershocks, has shaken several states, including the district of Caracas, and has caused the “collapse of buildings in different parishes”, also leaving “many structures at risk of collapsing.”
/ EP
“Today (Wednesday), around 6 pm, two earthquakes occurred in a row, the first measuring 7.2 and then one measuring 7.5 (on the Richter scale). At this time, 20 aftershocks have already been recorded,” declared the president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, in an appearance in which she reported the declaration of the state of emergency.
Among the effects of the double earthquake, the president has reported the “collapse of buildings in different parishes”, shortly after the vice president of Politics, Citizen Security and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, reported “very alarming situations from a graphic point of view” in the neighborhoods of Los Palos Grandes and Altamira, in the capital municipality of Chacao, the area with the “most serious” effects. “Some buildings and houses have collapsed, they have collapsed,” Cabello stressed.
In addition to the capital, Delcy Rodríguez has also reported important consequences in the states of Miranda, La Guaira – “hardly affected”, with the Maiquetía International Airport “closed due to serious damage” -, Aragua, Carabobo and Falcón. Cabello, for his part, has pointed to damage, in addition to the aforementioned states, in Yaracuy, Lara and Mérida, and has pointed out that “many structures are at risk of collapsing.”
In line, the vice president has stressed that “no one should stay inside the buildings, because this type of event is normally accompanied by aftershocks, which have the character of finishing collapsing some structures that have suffered in the main event”, a situation in which the affected buildings experience “structural weakness and collapse.”
On the other hand, the president has reported that electricity and water services have also suffered “affects” in multiple states, limitations that are added to the decision – taken “on instructions from the president” and communicated shortly before by Cabello – to implement a “temporary closure” in the direct gas service to buildings “until the evaluation is completed.”
“We do not want some type of accident to occur,” the vice president stressed, claiming that the decision “has a lot more to do with people understanding that they cannot be in the houses, (…) that they cannot be in the buildings.”
Additionally, Delcy Rodríguez has reported that the metro and railway systems have been suspended “in order to facilitate both rescue and recovery work on inhabited infrastructure” and that “there will be no classes the following days of this week”, in which activities that do not correspond to essential services will also remain suspended.
Regarding health care, the acting president has assured that she has activated “the entire public and private health network in the country, especially in the most affected areas, to care for the injured.”
Regarding health care, the acting president has assured that she has activated “the entire public and private health network in the country, especially in the most affected areas, to care for the injured”, while extending her condolences to “those who have unfortunately suffered the loss of a family member.”
“I want to ask doctors, nurses, and all health personnel as a whole to go to their jobs and we can care for the people who are already being taken to emergencies, both from hospitals and private health centers,” Israel requested.
The magnitude figures cited by Rodríguez have been supported by the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis), whose data in turn coincide with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which has reported “a double event” in the state of Yaracuy, with a “precursor” earthquake of magnitude 7.2 with an epicenter in the town of San Felipe and at a depth of 21.9 kilometers, which preceded the “earthquake.” main” magnitude 7.5, with epicenter in Yumare and a depth of ten kilometers.
“The USGS estimates that there are likely to be a high number of casualties and damage, and that the disaster is likely to be widespread,” noted the Service, which has also warned that “aftershocks could occur, some potentially with strong shaking.”
