CARACAS — Rescue teams searched collapsed buildings across northern Venezuela on Friday as authorities and international emergency crews worked to locate survivors after twin earthquakes, while tens of thousands of people remained listed as missing on public registries and hundreds were believed trapped beneath the rubble, officials said.
The Venezuelan government said more than 900 people had been confirmed dead and several thousand injured following the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck on Wednesday evening west of Caracas. Officials also said 172 people were still trapped, while a website established to collect reports of missing people listed more than 50,000 individuals as unaccounted for. Authorities cautioned that the missing-person registry had not been fully verified and could include duplicate or unresolved reports.
Rescue operations continued in Caracas, La Guaira and neighboring communities, where emergency workers, soldiers and volunteers used heavy equipment, search dogs, drones and thermal imaging devices to search damaged apartment buildings and other structures. Foreign rescue teams and humanitarian supplies continued arriving after the government requested international assistance.
"We are trying to help with what we can, but there is a lack of equipment," resident Carlos Borges told Reuters while assisting rescue efforts in La Guaira, describing shortages of machinery needed to remove large sections of collapsed concrete.
The United Nations said it was coordinating the deployment of international urban search-and-rescue teams and other humanitarian assistance. Several countries, including the United States, Colombia and Mexico, announced aid packages or dispatched emergency personnel to support Venezuelan authorities.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said emergency services were operating across the affected areas and urged residents to follow official safety instructions as aftershocks continued. However, some survivors and local residents told Reuters and the Associated Press that rescue resources were limited in the hardest-hit neighborhoods, prompting volunteers to begin searching for relatives and neighbors on their own.
The earthquakes, among the strongest recorded in Venezuela in more than a century according to the U.S. Geological Survey, caused extensive damage to homes, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure. Communications outages and blocked transportation routes complicated rescue operations and delayed the arrival of equipment to some communities.
As of Friday, emergency crews remained focused on locating survivors within collapsed buildings while authorities continued updating casualty and missing-person figures. Officials said the numbers could change as rescue operations progressed and additional reports were verified.
