LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas hardest hit by a pair of powerful earthquakes that killed at least 164 people. Many more were feared dead.
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and were felt throughout the region.
Nearly 1,000 people were injured, and thousands were reported missing across the country.
The coastal region of La Guaira, which is north of the capital, Caracas, experienced some of the heaviest damage and casualties, officials said.
Buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Caracas, where the country’s main airport was closed after sustaining damage.
In cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and many walked among the debris of collapsed buildings searching for the missing.
Television broadcasts showed rescue workers using power tools to get through piles of rubble.
In La Guaira, retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through debris and past a dead body when he spotted a woman trapped underneath the wreckage, signaling with her hand for help.
“God, let them rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mendaño. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”
At another damaged apartment complex, residents shouted the names of missing people: “Mirna! Marquitos!”
“Please help me find my daughter and see if she’s under the rubble, please,” said Arminda Gómez.
Offers of help poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro, at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.
The natural disaster poses a major challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the capture of Maduro.
Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement it represents.
The US Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas.
It had a depth of 22 kilometres (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometres (about 6 miles) and an epicentre 16 kilometres (10 miles) southwest of Moron.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could cause further damage.
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