Death toll from Venezuela quakes rises to 1,450

Caracas: The death toll from two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela earlier this week has risen to 1,450, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said on Saturday.

Rodríguez said the quakes — measured at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 — have been followed by about 430 light to moderate aftershocks. He gave the updated figures as part of the government’s national emergency briefing.

Earlier, Rodríguez said on state television that 3,238 people had been injured and 3,142 families affected, Xinhua reported. He offered the government’s condolences to the victims and said tens of thousands of personnel continue round the clock search and rescue operations.

The Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis) reported a magnitude 4.1 tremor on Saturday centred roughly 35 km west of La Guaira, a port city on the central coast that has been declared a disaster zone after suffering severe damage in Wednesday’s quakes. Funvisis said the latest tremor occurred at a shallow depth of 5 km, which can intensify ground shaking and heighten the risk of structural damage.

Residents in Caracas and nearby areas reported feeling the tremor and many evacuated buildings amid fears of further collapse. Authorities have been struggling to coordinate relief as rescue teams work to access affected coastal and mountainous communities.

(Inputs from IANS)