Venezuela Earthquake: Thousands Feared Dead, Many Injured

In what could be one of the devastating geographical disasters ever witnessed in the last century, two powerful and deadly earthquakes struck the capital city of Venezuela, Caracas in a span of few seconds on Wednesday night. The tremors have caused huge number of fatalities as buildings collapsed all over the city.

As per preliminary reports in the media, thousands may have died due to heavy impact of the quakes that hit the city with a magnitude of 7.1 and 7.5 on Richter scale. The death toll might range between 10,000 to one lakh as per initial estimation. Several people are said to have injured in this mishap. Residents are currently being urged to stay outdoors as the region experiences frequent, dangerous aftershocks.

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez immediately declared a state of emergency and appealed the citizens to not get panic as widespread rescue operations kicked off after the disaster. The quakes hit an area west of Caracas, and could be felt throughout the country and as far away as Columbia and Brazil as well.

The transportation sector suffered immediate setbacks, making rescue operations difficult. The Simón Bolívar International Airport has been immediately closed as it sustained severe structural damage during the shaking, forcing authorities to suspend all flight operations. The metro and train networks have also been suspended.

While Colombia’s maritime authorities ruled out a tsunami threat for its coast, the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center briefly issued tsunami alerts for neighboring Caribbean islands, including the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.