Venezuela earthquake death toll climbs to 235
More than 4,300 injured as a rare, powerful "seismic doublet" levels key coastal infrastructure
CARACAS, Venezuela (MNTV) — The number of people killed in Wednesday’s consecutive earthquakes along Venezuela’s northern coast has climbed to 235, with over 4,300 more wounded, Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said Thursday.
Appearing on the state broadcaster Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Alvarado said medical crews were working nonstop. “Across the public health system, we’ve treated upward of 4,300 wounded people,” he said.
“Heartbreakingly, that figure includes 235 patients who reached our facilities already without vital signs or died soon after being admitted.”
According to Alvarado, most of the deaths and serious injuries are clustered in the coastal state of La Guaira. The northern state is the main sea and air entry point to Caracas and is home to Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, which remains shut for the foreseeable future after suffering heavy structural damage.
With local clinics overwhelmed by trauma cases, officials have started building temporary field hospitals along the coast to absorb the surge.
The scale of the destruction traces back to an unusual “seismic doublet” — an event in which two high-magnitude tectonic ruptures strike almost at the same time in the same zone. On Wednesday afternoon, an initial magnitude 7.2 foreshock near San Felipe was followed barely 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock southeast of Yumare.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said seismologists have recorded at least 138 aftershocks since the two main quakes. He added that the shaking damaged no fewer than 346 sites, among them 250 residential buildings and 20 shopping centers, mostly in La Guaira.
Eight regional hospitals also sustained structural damage, forcing crews to quickly move patients to other facilities.
A number of countries have set aside diplomatic tensions to send rescue workers, specialized gear, and humanitarian aid.
Washington said it would immediately deploy military resources to support local authorities with logistics and relief efforts, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confirmed that a military cargo plane would depart Friday carrying 36 search-and-rescue firefighters, civil defense specialists, telecommunications technicians, and a complete field hospital.
Ecuador and El Salvador are sending K-9 units, physicians, and tactical rescue teams. Mexico and Chile have dispatched veteran seismic-response crews to assist with urban search and rescue.
Colombia mobilized its armed forces, police, Civil Defense, and disaster-management units for immediate deployment across the border, and Cuba redirected its standing medical mission inside Venezuela to handle frontline triage and trauma care from the disaster’s first hours.
Panama, Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Uruguay have likewise promised emergency staff and financial aid.
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