Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake Hits Venezuela; Death Toll Could Reach 100,000

[Anchor]

A series of powerful earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding 7.0 have struck Venezuela, plunging the entire country, including the capital, Caracas, into terror. As reports of damage continue to emerge, including entire building walls collapsing, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has projected that the death toll could range from 10,000 to as many as 100,000 people.

Gwak Sang-eun reports.

[Reporter]

Rescue workers are evacuating people from the rubble of buildings that have been reduced to unrecognizable debris.

The streets are filled with people who are either wailing because they cannot confirm the safety of their families or are still unable to shake off the terror even after narrowly escaping.

At approximately 6:00 p.m. local time on June 24, powerful back-to-back earthquakes struck the northern Caribbean coast of Venezuela.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, occurred 168 km west of the capital, Caracas. Less than a minute later, a second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck 45 km from the epicenter of the first.

[Affected Resident: There was smoke everywhere. When I came down, it was like a scene from a horror movie, and we had to crawl through all kinds of debris to escape.]

While the USGS has estimated that the earthquake could result in between 10,000 and 100,000 deaths, Venezuelan authorities have yet to announce an official casualty count.

Tsunami warnings were briefly issued for nearby Caribbean island nations, including the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.

[Diosdado Cabello / Venezuelan Minister of Interior: Because the possibility of aftershocks is high, you must not remain inside buildings.]

The last earthquake in Venezuela comparable to this one occurred in 2018.

At that time, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Sucre State, affecting at least 10 countries, including Brazil and Guyana.

(Video Editing: Kim Jun-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.