LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) 鈥� In cities across northern , neighbors helped each other dig through rubble to search for loved ones on Thursday after back-to-back that officials say killed more than 230 people and left thousands injured the night before.
The official death toll rose to around 235 late Thursday, with at least 4,300 people injured, Venezuela Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state media. The number of casualties is expected to climb with thousands reported missing and frantic rescue efforts continuing.
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude evening were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and was felt throughout the region.
The injured were pulled out covered in dust and blood, among them children and animals. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab with only a bare foot poking out before rescuers slid her out alive. But few government search teams were initially seen outside Caracas.
The coastal region of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas, suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties. The country鈥檚 main airport is there and was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.
Venezuelans reeling from quakes
Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead. Buildings were flattened and streets cracked open.
Families posted missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched. Venezuelans abroad struggled to make contact with relatives due to interrupted phone service in the country.
In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
Mother of three Dayana Delgado asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised and said residents were the ones digging through crumpled buildings.
鈥淚 want to know where my child is, if he鈥檚 trapped or in a shelter,鈥� she said of her missing 8-year-old son.
One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of the missing. Some stood in silent shock.
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters: A 1999 mudslide killed thousands and is considered one of the country鈥檚 worst natural disasters.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carre帽o stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.
鈥淚 lost everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn鈥檛 get out. It鈥檚 incredibly devastating.鈥�
Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Menda帽o climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.
鈥淢ay God rescue her as quickly as possible,鈥� Menda帽o said. 鈥淲hen we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.鈥�
Government and rescuers face huge challenges
The natural disaster is the latest challenge for acting President , the former vice president who took office in January after the capture and removal from power of then-President by the United States. Venezuela has been facing for more than a decade and many people reject the legitimacy of .
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 damaged hospitals and homes.
She appealed to businesses Thursday to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.
鈥淲e hope to rescue as many living people as possible,鈥� Rodr铆guez said.
While Venezuela 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.
The U.S. Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centered near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas.
The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
鈥淚t is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,鈥� Ferreira said.
Shortly after United Nations officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the .
Foreign governments offer assistance
Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Canada vowed to send aid. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of State , who spoke to Rodr铆guez following the quake, said the United States was immediately deploying assistance, though he acknowledged the closure of Venezuela鈥檚 main airport created logistical challenges.
鈥淲e have a whole-of-government response. It鈥檒l be big; it鈥檒l be fast; and it鈥檒l be effective,鈥� Rubio said.
Rescue teams from Mexico, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived in Venezuela on Thursday, along with an aid flight from Mexico.
鈥淣o country is prepared to provide the response that鈥檚 needed. That鈥檚 what neighboring countries are there for,鈥� Dominican Air Force Major Carlos Olivares said.
The Venezuelan diaspora also was helping. In Ecuador, F茅lix Rodr铆guez said his store was receiving donations from his fellow Venezuelans as well as Ecuadorians.
鈥淢y business is always ready for whatever Venezuela needs,鈥� he said.
Gabby Graham said she regularly sends money from Spokane, Washington, to Venezuela using a peer-to-peer payment to a local business that gives cash to her family. But since the earthquakes they can’t locate the business owner and she is unable to share funds for food, water, medication and toiletries.
鈥淚 think it hasn鈥檛 been easy for them for years. Just now it鈥檚 just even worse because it鈥檚 about finding these things,鈥� Graham said.
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Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Gabriela Molina in Quito, Ecuador, Regina Garcia Cano in Bogota, Colombia, Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Anna-Catherine Brigida and India Grant in Mexico City, Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Clara Preve in Buenos Aires, Alexandra Olson in New York, Julie Watson in San Diego and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
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