Venezuelans spent Thursday digging through the wreckage of collapsed buildings as rescue teams rushed into the country’s northern regions devastated by two powerful earthquakes that officials say have killed around 235 people and injured at least 4,300.
Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state media that hospitals had received “around 235 patients who arrive without vital signs or die when they arrive,” warning that the numbers will continue to rise. Thousands remain missing after the 7.2‑ and 7.5‑magnitude quakes struck Wednesday evening among the strongest Venezuela has experienced in more than a century.
The tremors were felt across the region, with buildings evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon.
In response to the humanitarian crisis, the US Treasury moved Thursday to temporarily waive certain sanctions until October 23, allowing transactions related to earthquake relief that would otherwise be prohibited.
Across northern Venezuela, residents poured into the streets, frantically searching for loved ones buried under debris. State TV broadcast dramatic rescue scenes, including crews pulling a woman from beneath a cement slab only her bare foot visible before she was freed. Children, adults and even animals were carried out of the rubble, covered in dust and blood.
But outside Caracas, few government search teams were visible, leaving many communities to rely on volunteers and neighbours in the desperate hunt for survivors.
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