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A pair of powerful earthquakes slammed Venezuela less than a minute apart Wednesday evening, collapsing buildings in the capital, Caracas.
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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.
U.S. President Donald Trump and the State Department, as well as humanitarian organizations, pledged to help in what is predicted to be a disaster.
Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency and announced on state television that the airport in Caracas is closed because of heavy damage.
Rodríguez expressed condolences to Venezuelans who lost family members and noted that 20 aftershocks had been recorded.
Authorities have not released the number of possible casualties across the country. 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.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the quake could be felt in several states. The Altamira neighborhood in Caracas had “alarming situations” with collapsed homes and buildings, he said, suggesting people were injured and asking motorists to give way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
“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,” 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 is activating its emergency response.
Wednesday was a holiday in Venezuela, Luis Colmenarez, regional emergency content and communications specialist for the organization, said in a statement. 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 the 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.
Trump wrote on social media late Wednesday that “The U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help.”
“I have 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!!!” Trump wrote.
State Department official Jeremy Lewin also said the U.S. would send help, including search and rescue teams and medical and humanitarian supplies.
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.
U.S. President Donald 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.
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