At least 32 dead, over 700 injured as powerful twin earthquakes hammer Venezuela

A pair of powerful earthquakes slammed Venezuela less than a minute apart Wednesday evening, collapsing buildings in the capital, Caracas, and leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured.

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At least 32 people were killed and more than 700 were injured, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said in an address on state television early Thursday, following the temblors.

Those figures do not include possible casualties in the state of La Guaira, north of Caracas, which Rodríguez described as a “true tragedy” and a “disaster zone.”

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the first earthquake was near the town of San Felipe, about 100 miles west of the capital, and the second, larger earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.5, hit only 39 seconds later close to the nearby town of Yumare.

“High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” the USGS wrote on its site.

The quakes are among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century.

They struck shortly after 6 p.m.

The United States pledged to help, as did humanitarian organizations and a number of other countries including China, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

President Donald Trump wrote on social media late Wednesday that he had “instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly. We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good!!!”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said the U.S. was “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance.”

Rodríguez thanked Trump and the U.S. government, which she said had been in “permanent contact” with the Venezuelan government. She said later in an X post that she spoke with Rubio by phone but did not share details of the discussion.

She also expressed thanks to the leaders of various nations who have sent messages of support.

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency and announced on state television that the airport in Caracas was closed because of heavy damage. School and non-essential activities were suspended, she said.

Rodríguez expressed condolences to Venezuelans who lost family members and noted that 20 aftershocks had been recorded. She noted that international support was on its way.

“What I ask is that we act in national unity, with calm, and that we know that together we will overcome this tragedy,” the president said.

The governor of Falcón, Víctor Clark, said workers were searching for 15 people in the rubble in his state, west of Caracas. Another 35 were injured, he said.

In the U.S., Lucy Jones, a seismologist and visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology, said predictions by the USGS are that it will be a severe event.

“This is one of the really great, very difficult, very damaging earthquakes, because you combined a very large event with residences of a lot of people,” Jones said in a video briefing.

In Caracas, people evacuated swaying buildings and remained outside, many visibly shocked as they saw entire walls that had collapsed, making furniture visible from the street. Dust columns could also be seen in two neighborhoods of the capital, where restaurants and other businesses are typically busy.

“The scene was like a horror movie,” a woman in the city told the Reuters news agency after she managed to open a door and leave her building. “We had to climb over the rubble and everything.”

A video posted online and verified by NBC News showed dust billowing across part of the Caracas skyline.

“We understand that some people may be desperate, but we are acting according to protocols to activate aid and rescue efforts to help those who need it most,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on state television. “Be very careful with children and the elderly; call each other and check that no one has been harmed.”

He also urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage some structures.

“The building really shook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong,” Caracas resident Roberto Damas said. “We were walking and it was tossing us around. Everything in the apartment fell. Well, thank God we were able to get out.”

The aid organization World Vision has people in Venezuela and said it was activating its emergency response.

With Wednesday a holiday in Venezuela, Luis Colmenarez, regional emergency content and communications specialist for the organization, said he was around four hours away from Caracas and watching the “Toy Story” movie with his sisters when the earthquakes struck.

“Halfway through the film, everything went dark and everything started to shake,” Colmenarez said in a statement, distributed by World Vision.

“The shaking lasted between two and three minutes — it felt endless,” he added. Colmenarez said there were many collapsed buildings and that people were in the street and afraid to return to buildings due to aftershocks.

Venezuela has already faced economic challenges and poverty, and the United Nations humanitarian affairs agency says almost 8 million of the country’s 28 million people were in need of assistance as of May.

Trump ordered a military raid into Venezuela in January to arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, who is charged in the U.S. related to narcotics trafficking.