Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela around 6 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas, followed less than a minute later by another of magnitude 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS warned that there is a risk of more than 10,000 deaths, though official casualty tolls have been slow to come in.
Casualties and Damage
Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced that at least 164 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured as buildings collapsed. She confirmed that 10 buildings had collapsed in Caracas, but gave no further details about La Guaria, the hardest-hit region. Rodriguez also asked the private sector for help to rent machinery to assist with debris removal and rescue efforts.
International Response
US President Donald Trump said there could be a 'devastating number of deaths' and offered help to the South American country, where the US military toppled longtime leader Nicolás Maduro in January. The Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) complicates the response, according to Christopher Sabatini, director of the Latin America Programme at the Chatham House think tank.
Infrastructure Concerns
Sabatini said the earthquake compounds existing problems in Venezuela. "There have been decades of underinvestment and even collapse in Venezuela’s infrastructure: roads, bridges, hospitals, and the electrical grid," he said. "This deepens that misery and raises the question of who will invest in this under an interim government that lacks the rule of law and fiscal transparency." He added that the key actor in coordinating humanitarian support and laying the groundwork for rebuilding no longer exists due to USAID's dismantling. Trump has said the U.S. pays disproportionately for foreign aid and wants other countries to shoulder more of the burden.
