At least 188 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured after the double earthquake that struck Venezuela on Wednesday, according to a new provisional report announced by interim president Delcy Rodriguez.
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Around thirty aftershocks have also occurred since the double earthquake, added the leader.
In the capital of this Latin American country of nearly 30 million inhabitants, which is regularly hit by earthquakes, AFP photographers saw rescuers and residents searching under the rubble. People were extricated from the rubble of buildings, then taken away on stretchers.
AFP
“At this time, we have received reports of 32 deaths” and “more than 700 injured,” interim President Delcy Rodriguez said in a message to the nation, after declaring a state of emergency. The new death toll now stands at 188 deaths.
She said she did not yet have data for the state of La Guaira, located near the capital and which, according to her, is the most affected region.
The badly damaged Caracas airport was closed.
AFP
A first tremor of magnitude 7.2 occurred Wednesday at 6:04 p.m. local time, at a depth of 21.9 km, about 200 km west of Caracas, followed by a second of magnitude 7.5 at 10 km depth, recorded 39 seconds later 45 km away, in addition to around twenty aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
La Maiquetia International Airport, in La Guaira, about 40 km from Caracas, was closed “due to serious damage,” Delcy Rodriguez said.
The shock was felt as far away as Colombia, in the capital Bogota, although it is 1000 km away as the crow flies.
Here are the latest developments live.
