Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed at least 164 casualties, although the US Geological Survey warned the final death toll could surpass 10,000, as back-to-back strong earthquakes struck the South American country on Wednesday evening. A magnitude 7.2 foreshock hit about 160 kilometres west of the capital, Caracas, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5.
Two powerful quakes within a minute of each other accounted for a rare incident, making it the largest to hit the South American country in more than a century. As rescue teams are still doing their best to search through the rubble for survivors who may be trapped under the massive debris of the twin earthquakes, the actual death toll is feared to be much higher.
While the double-earthquake event was deadly, at least 30 aftershocks have also occurred in its aftermath, according to the country’s interim president. Delcy Rodriguez particularly pointed out that the coastal state of La Guaira suffered the most damage, noting “dozens” of buildings collapsed there. As a result, the state north of Caracas has been declared a disaster zone.
As international governments across the globe continue to put aside political rivalries to extend support and solidarity to the Venezuelan public, more and more videos of the absolute tragedy have surfaced on social media. Survivors of Wednesday’s catastrophe are also speaking out about the horrors they witnessed firsthand while the country was celebrating a national holiday on June 24, commemorating the 1821 Battle of Carabobo.
Venezuela earthquake survivors speak out
BBC’s contributor Nicole Kolster, who was on the seventh floor of an apartment building in Palos Grandes, central Caracas, when the earthquake began, said: “It’s the strongest quake I’ve ever felt in my life.”
She recounted, “I saw the windows moving and the only thing I could think to do was to get between the front door and a stone wall, which in my judgment is quite strong, to try to protect myself.”
“I thought the building was going to fall on top of me,” Nicole added.
A second witness told Reuters, “Several walls in my building broke open or cracks formed.” Yet another person, who lives in eastern Caracas, described hearing a “very loud crash” and told the outlet, “Things fell in the house, jugs inside the refrigerator. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
A pensioner compared the earthquake to the fatal 1967 natural disaster in Caracas, saying this one was “even worse”.
A 54-year-old bank employee told AFP, “The stairs came away, the whole wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible.”
Another 52-year-old survivor told the outlet, “We waited for it to pass and then ran down the escalator. We had to wait because it was shaking too much. It lasted a long time.”
A 48-year-old engineer, who fled her La Castellana apartment, told AFP, “It was moving a lot and sounded like a deep roar.”
Recalling frightening scenes after the quakes struck the country, a 38-year-old engineer in Caracas told Al Jazeera, “Glasses were breaking, pictures were falling, the television too. Everything was falling. The lamps, anything made of glass, even the columns and beams were making noise.”
As an engineer, the witness explained, “The movement in the columns and beams helps absorb energy. But if it lasts too long, it can reach a breaking point. That’s when collapses happen.”
“Everyone was in the streets, in the squares, outside their homes. “People looked alert, nervous. There were many injured. Firefighters and paramedics were pulling people from under the rubble,” the survivor added.
Another Caracas resident likened the real-life tragedy to a “horror movie.” Fighting back emotions, the person told Reuters, “There was a cloud of smoke that wouldn’t let us see. And when we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie.”
She further revealed that all the walls to the room she was in were cracked and they had to pry open a door to escape.
“We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out,” she said.
Nightmare unfolds at Maiquetia airport
Another eyewitness captured live footage of the moment an earthquake shook Simon Bolivar International, which serves the capital Caracas, in Maiquetia city. The video shot by former lawmaker Wilmer Azuaje shed light on the calamitous disaster caused by the earthquakes on Wednesday, as the airport’s ceilings were seen hanging low and the floor was completely covered with rubble and dust.
Panic-stricken and helpless flyers at the scene could be seen running for shelter. The footage makes it appear as if the whole place was about to go down.
“It’s shaking. Look at what Maiquetia Airport looks like while we’re here inside,” said Wilmer Azuaje while filming the airport covered in rubble and dust. “Look at the disaster here, completely destroyed. Look at it after the earthquake. Look at how everything ended up. Everyone, the situation we’re experiencing here is serious.”
During a televised broadcast, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said that several Venezuelan states were affected by the disaster.
“There was a seismic event, everything indicates that it had a magnitude much greater than seven,” he said, speaking via phone to VTV.
“It has been strongly felt in Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, Miranda, Caracas and La Guaira,” he added, noting that neighbourhoods of Palos Grandes and Altamira in the capital were the worst hit.
Cabello urged residents to leave their homes and stay outside amid the fear of aftershocks. “No one should remain inside buildings because events of this type are usually accompanied by aftershocks — aftershocks capable of causing the final collapse of structures already damaged during the main event,” Cabello said on state TV.