number of people missing in earthquake could exceed 40 thousand

The number of deaths in Venezuela rose to 188 due to the two earthquakes that hit the country in the early evening of this Wednesday (24). The update was released by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Congress and brother of President Delcy Rodríguez. According to him, the number of people hospitalized exceeds 1,500.

This amount, however, tends to be much higher than what has been announced so far. According to the Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela website, created by civil society to gather unofficial information about victims, there are more than 40 thousand people missing.

On the platform, the population can enter data about missing people such as age, sex, marital status and the city where they live.

The Venezuelan government has not made any tool of this type available to date and does not have an estimate of the number of missing people.

According to a survey carried out by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the number of deaths could vary between 10 thousand and 100 thousand. The entity’s calculation takes into account the population exposed in affected areas and the precariousness of construction.

Tragedy

The two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.5 and 7.2, caused great destruction on the coast of Morón, which is 160 km from Caracas, the country’s capital. The region belongs to the state of La Guaira, the most affected by the tremors. Buildings, houses and other buildings collapsed.

According to the local press, eight hospitals were affected and patients had to be transferred to other institutions.

Brazil

The earthquakes in Venezuela were felt in some cities in the North of Brazil, according to information from the Brazilian Geological Survey (SGB).

The tremors hit Belém (PA), Manaus (AM), Boa Vista (RR), Macapá (AP) and some municipalities close to these cities.

According to Marcos Ferreira, geophysicist and researcher at SGB, magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale are considered very high.

“[Esse valores] indicate the release of an enormous amount of energy. Furthermore, the shallower the earthquakes, the greater their potential and impact, as the energy reaches the surface more directly and quickly.”