CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥� At least 164 people have died and 971 were injured after a pair of powerful quakes rocked Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodr铆guez said Thursday, adding that rescue teams are rushing to the hardest-hit areas to free people trapped under rubble.
Wednesday evening鈥檚 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes were among the and could be felt throughout the region. The country’s main airport was damaged and closed, while buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil鈥檚 Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela鈥檚 capital, Caracas.
Television broadcasts Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Panicked residents of the capital were sent pouring into the streets, and after the quakes many people walked among the debris searching for the missing among collapsed buildings and toppled electric poles.
Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodr铆guez described as a 鈥渄isaster zone鈥� and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings.
Rodr铆guez said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which sits north of Caracas on the coast. Officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble, she said.
鈥淒ozens of buildings have collapsed there … and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,鈥� Rodr铆guez said.
Video shared online appeared to show dozens of people, some lying on the ground and others on hospital beds, being treated outside a hospital in La Guaira.
While sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
Rodr铆guez appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, adding that search and rescue teams certified by the United Nations were on their way to Venezuela.
Residents fled their homes in panic
During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street. Columns of dust rose in two typically busy neighborhoods in the capital.
鈥淚t started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,鈥� Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage structures, and many people stayed on the streets for hours, some sitting on the ground hugging pets as dust gathered around them. Others spent the night in parked cars, subway stations and other public places.
Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone coverage, and the earthquakes damaged and closed Sim贸n Bol铆var International Airport, the country鈥檚 main airport, Rodr铆guez said.
In Caracas, subway services were suspended and natural gas shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.
Roberto Gamas, another Caracas resident, said the building he was in 鈥渟hook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong.鈥�
The lack of cellphone signal in parts of Venezuela deepened the distress of many families, particularly those among the more than 7.7 million people who have left the country and who struggled to reach relatives inside the country.
On Thursday, scores of people took to social media asking for help finding loved ones, posting pictures of missing relatives and their last known location.
Venezuela opposition leader Mar铆a Corina Machado, herself in exile, sent wishes on X for 鈥渟trength, serenity, and solidarity.鈥�
Venezuela was hit twice by large quakes
The U.S. 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 kilometers (about 14 miles).
The USGS reported a 7.5 magnitude earthquake just a minute later, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.
Several governments offered assistance
Rodr铆guez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes, and had instructed the economy and finance ministers to oversee the effort.
Offers of help poured in from countries around the world.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is 鈥渋mmediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.鈥�
鈥淲e will have a whole of government response,鈥� Rubio said Thursday in Bahrain. 鈥淚t will be big. It will be fast. It will be effective.鈥�
He added that one of the runways at Caracas鈥� international airport was cracked in the earthquake, making landing aircraft there difficult.
Rodr铆guez 鈥� who became acting president after an , and brought him to the U.S. to stand trial 鈥� thanked U.S. President Donald Trump. She said in an X post later that she spoke with Rubio by phone without sharing details. She also expressed thanks to the leaders of various nations who have sent messages of support and offers of help.
Ecuador ordered the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Rodr铆guez said Qatar, Mexico and El Salvador had already sent rescue personnel.
鈥淲e send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela,鈥� El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, once diametrically opposed to Venezuela鈥檚 government, wrote in a post on X.
Quakes were felt in the wider region
Buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapa in Brazil鈥檚 Amazon were evacuated, according to reports on TV Globo. The quakes also were felt in Colombia鈥檚 Caribbean and northeast regions.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued several tsunami alerts that were quickly lifted.
While uncommon in Venezuela, earthquakes are frequent along the Pacific coast, including in Mexico and Chile, which both sit along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the Ring of Fire, an area that the USGS says is responsible for 90% of earthquakes.
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Garcia Cano reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writers Clara Preve in Buenos Aires; Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia; Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo; Anna-Catherine Brigida, Megan Janetsky and India Grant in Mexico City; Cristina Fuentes in Madrid; and Maria Teresa Hernandez in Beijing contributed to this report.
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