Satellite imagery and recent aerial footage have revealed the scale of the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe that hit Venezuela after it was hit by the country's deadliest twin earthquake in more than a century.
As large parts of residential communities near the capital Caracas have been reduced to piles of rubble, local rescue teams and international delegations are racing against time to find survivors under the rubble, amid complex conditions and continued aftershocks that have added to the gravity of the situation on the ground and run out of time to rescue those trapped.
Aerial photos showing areas that have been completely "erased" in La Guaira
Fantour, an American data analysis company, has released shocking aerial images carried by CNN documenting the devastating effects of the twin quake over the coastal city of La Guaira, located 16 kilometers north of the capital, Caracas.
Satellite imagery showed entire residential neighborhoods and vital infrastructure that had been "erased" from the map after their buildings turned into mounds of rubble.
The port city has been particularly badly damaged, with stricken residents living in shock as they search through the rubble, calling out the names of their missing relatives or trying to pull the injured out with rudimentary tools. The seriousness of the situation on the ground is compounded by the continued flow of strong aftershocks that hit the area, threatening to collapse the remaining cracked structures and impeding the movement of residents on the streets.
Death toll jumps to 235
Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado announced in a live statement on state television that the total death toll from the disaster has risen to at least 235, in addition to hundreds of injuries ranging from serious to moderate.
The minister explained with regret that the health facilities received dozens of victims who arrived dead or died immediately after their arrival as a result of their severe injuries, so that the toll rose rapidly after it was stable at 188 people earlier.
Meanwhile, residents and the affected are facing a bitter reality, with hundreds of bodies and the injured still trapped under heavy concrete blocks many hours after the disaster.
Field medical reports confirmed that time is running out critically for stranded people who face the risk of suffocation or bleeding from collisions, making every passing minute a life-and-death line.
International support and global relief teams
In the face of the enormity of the humanitarian scene, the scale of the destruction sparked a wave of international solidarity, as offers of support poured in from around the world, and international relief and rescue teams specialized in natural disasters began to arrive on Venezuelan territory to contribute to logistical search and rescue operations.
Despite this international alert, field reports indicate that rescue efforts are progressing very slowly on the ground due to the enormity of the rubble, the lack of access to some of the damaged residential blocks, not to mention the acute shortage of heavy equipment needed to lift the collapsed concrete roofs, in which the local authorities are counting on the expertise and mechanisms accompanying the international missions advancing towards the affected areas.
According to data from the US Geological Survey, the disaster began with a first violent earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale, followed just 39 seconds later by a second more destructive earthquake of magnitude 7.5, followed by a series of violent aftershocks that exceeded 30 tremors.
This double seismic attack is classified as the strongest and most violent to hit Venezuela in more than a century, specifically since the historic earthquake recorded on October 29, 1900, which reached a magnitude of 7.7 off the coast of northeastern Caracas, causing severe damage that changed the features of the region.
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