Venezuela rescuers search rubble after deadly earthquakes

Rescuers in Venezuela dug through collapsed buildings Thursday as survivors described neighborhoods reduced to rubble by two powerful earthquakes that struck within less than a minute, killing at least 235 people and injuring about 4,300.

The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes hit west of Caracas on Wednesday evening, shaking the capital and northern coastal states and sending residents rushing into the streets as buildings swayed and glass shattered. The tremors were felt in parts of Colombia and Brazil and triggered tsunami alerts, CBS News reported. Officials said the death toll was expected to rise.

La Guaira, on Venezuela’s northern coast, suffered the worst destruction, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said. She declared a nationwide state of emergency and met with the army’s general staff to coordinate emergency operations in the state, where security forces and heavy machinery were being deployed to clear debris and support rescue crews.

“We need all doctors and nurses to report to their places of work. We must take care of everyone who is arriving at emergency rooms,” Rodríguez said in a televised address, as hospitals struggled with rising casualties.

In Catia La Mar, a neighborhood with nearly 200 housing towers, resident Yilsmaris Blanco told AFP that “everything, everything collapsed.”

“We thank God because… we’re alive, but there are people right now suffering with their relatives buried, with their relatives crushed and they can’t get them out,” Blanco, 39, said.

Larry Rojas, 49, said his family was trapped in a collapsed building and that residents lacked water and equipment. “We have nothing, right now we have nothing, not even the strength or the courage to go in there,” he told AFP. “Just imagine.”

Rojas said people were afraid to enter buildings still standing because “we’re afraid it will collapse too.” He appealed for machinery to reach those buried in the rubble.

Journalist Tony Frangie told “CBS Mornings” he was in an elevator in Caracas when the first quake hit while heading to watch a World Cup match with friends. “I started to pray and to press every button, waiting for it to open up,” he said. The elevator opened in the basement, and he later saw his building shaking outside.

“At first,” Frangie said, he did not know the scale of the disaster. Online, he learned that two major quakes had struck. He said he later saw “hundreds of posts and stories and lots of messages of people” seeking help or looking for relatives. “We’ve seen videos of buildings collapsing and never-ending amount of people looking for families,” he said. “So, yeah, we expect it to get worse.”

NPR reported that firefighters, soldiers and volunteers were still searching collapsed buildings in Caracas and nearby areas two days after the quakes. Volunteers arrived with shovels, hammers and basic tools, as some sites were crowded with helpers and others lacked equipment.

“In a place like this you just feel shocked. I don’t even feel like taking photos,” volunteer Sebastian Arias told NPR.

Authorities closed the country’s main airport after structural damage was found in the terminal roof, NPR reported. Schools were to remain shut for the rest of the week, and residents were urged to avoid potentially weakened buildings.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was sending search teams, medical resources and humanitarian aid, including rescue crews from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. Qatar and El Salvador also offered assistance, Rubio said. NPR reported that Mexico, Chile and El Salvador were sending emergency teams and medical supplies.

“There are human beings that have been harmed, that have been hurt, some have been killed, some have been severely injured, and some are still trapped in rubble,” Rubio said. “We’re going to focus on that.”