A Venezuelan official said that two powerful earthquakes on Wednesday had killed 920 people and left more than 3,000 injured. The United States and Mexico were among the latest to send support, as hundreds remained missing or trapped under rubble. Share full articleCaracas, VenezuelaFabiola Ferrero for The New York TimesCaracas, VenezuelaFabiola Ferrero for The New York TimesLa Guaira, VenezuelaAdriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York TimesLa Guaira, VenezuelaAdriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York TimesLa Guaira, VenezuelaAdriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York TimesCaracas, VenezuelaLeonardo Fernandez Viloria/ReutersLa Guaira, VenezuelaFabiola Ferrero for The New York TimesLa Guaira, VenezuelaAssociated Press See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedFabiola FerreroJulie TurkewitzGenevieve GlatskyLuis Ferré-Sadurní and Alan Yuhas Here’s the latest.Survivors heaved mountains of bricks and cement with their bare hands across Venezuela’s earthquake-shattered north on Friday, hushing each other to listen for whispers of life and praying for help in reaching people still trapped under the ruins. At a small hospital in La Guaira, the worst-hit state, Juan David Arsia, 17, said he had spent 21 hours under rubble. “I was there with my mom and I could hear her screaming,” he said. “I would yell to her, ‘Don’t give up, mom, have faith — don’t give up!’” From under the wreckage, his tibia and fibula fractured, he could hear neighbors calling for help, he said, until the sounds stopped in the middle of the night. Hours later, he again heard people moving above the rubble and began shouting, leading neighbors to find and pull him and his mother free. As feared, though, the death toll sharply rose on Friday. At least 920 people have died, Jorge Rodríguez, the leader of the National Assembly, said in a televised address, and at least 3,300 more people were injured. He added that about 1,400 buildings have been damaged, including 13 hospitals. Rescue teams from at least seven countries are racing to help Venezuela in its search and recovery efforts after the devastating twin earthquakes on Wednesday, but they face stark hurdles even getting to the disaster zone. The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes damaged the international airport where they would have landed, split open roads they would have sped down and overwhelmed Venezuela’s hollowed-out emergency services. The country’s infrastructure had already been weakened by corruption and a decade-long economic depression. With little heavy machinery to clear rubble and few medical supplies to help the wounded, many survivors found themselves on their own. Firefighters are using cellphone lights because of a flashlight shortage, and an overwhelmed hospital in La Guaira is operating without running water, forcing staff to wash their hands and clean bloodstained floors using stored water and intravenous saline, one doctor said. Many survivors lacked even a safe place to rest, as more than 300 aftershocks across the north have jolted the remains of were apartments and offices days ago. Faced with the choice of unstable building facades or sleeping in public plazas or by a highway, many residents chose to stay outside. President Delcy Rodríguez announced on state television that she would “militarize” La Guaira, the state north of the capital and the area hardest hit. The Venezuelan military was in the state to help, she said, but she did not specify what it would mean for the territory, or whether soldiers would patrol the streets or impose a curfew. U.S. effort: The disaster will test the new alliance between the United States and Ms. Rodríguez’s interim government, formed since the U.S. military raid in January that removed Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s long-ruling autocrat. The State Department said that it would provide $150 million to aid groups in Venezuela, and the U.S. military said it was surging available forces in the region, including aircraft and an amphibious transport ship, to support relief operations. A health system in crisis: The earthquakes exposed the fragility of an emergency medical system hollowed out by years of economic collapse, institutional decay and mass emigration. One doctor said there are only three functioning ambulances serving greater Caracas. Survivors speak at a hospital: At a small medical center in La Guaira, some survivors shared harrowing stories. A search for shelter: Thousands of people have been left homeless by the earthquakes, which toppled at least 250 buildings, officials say. Some of the survivors are setting up in baseball fields, plazas and along the side of roads for fear of the unstable ruins that remain. Search teams are flying from California, Virginia and Florida.ImageMembers of the County of Los Angeles search and rescue team on Thursday before leaving for Venezuela.Credit...Blake Fagan/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSearch and rescue teams from Virginia, California and Florida began arriving in Venezuela on Friday, joining efforts to pull survivors and recover bodies from the rubble of back-to-back earthquakes that leveled buildings and left more than 900 dead. The units from Los Angeles County and Fairfax County, Va., are the only two from the United States that are trained to work internationally. They were joined by two search and rescue teams from Florida because of their proximity to Venezuela, according to Anthony Marrone, the Los Angeles County fire chief. The Los Angeles County team, which took off in a C-17 aircraft from March Air Force Base in Riverside, Calif., on Friday morning, consisted of 73 people that included firefighters, medical personnel, handlers of six canine teams, and structural engineering specialists. They will be hauling 84,000 pounds of equipment, such as concrete-busting machines, using listening devices to detect people buried under the wreckage and deploying generators for where the power is out. “When the team hits the ground, they’ll go to assigned areas and start searching to prioritize rescues,” Chief Marrone said. “Then they’ll fold into a 24-hour mission, day shift and night shift. We won’t stop searching at night.” The team from Fairfax County is roughly the same size, with 80 people and six dogs. The teams were sent by the State Department under new protocols meant to make it easier for the United States to help in international disaster areas. The emergency workers from Fairfax and Los Angeles Counties — known respectively as USA 1 and USA 2 — have responded worldwide to hurricanes, earthquakes and other crises. The Los Angeles County team alone has been to Turkey, Mexico City, Nepal, Haiti (twice) and most recently Jamaica to assist in rescue and recovery efforts, Chief Marrone said. He added that the State Department, which has assumed control of the search and rescue units, had moved quickly. The agencies that previously administered relief efforts — FEMA and USAID — often took days to get people on the ground. “It’s much more streamlined,” he said. “And that’s good. Because time is the enemy.” Another adversary can be the weather. But in Venezuela, the typical tropical forecast — 70 to 80 degrees, afternoon rains and strong winds — “didn’t look bad,” he said. The canine units that are with the teams are trained to search for dead or live bodies, said Jonathan Torres, a spokesman for the L.A. County Fire Department. While several of the California dogs are labradors — one black, one yellow and one brown — they are various breeds. “We can only do so much as humans,” Mr. Torres said. “They have a nose like no other.” At the José María Vargas Hospital in Caracas on Friday, there was a constant stream of people gathering around patient lists, looking to see if their relatives were inside. Some patients who had been hospitalized before the earthquake said the hospital’s interior had been severely damaged. At the hospital’s public clinic, one patient, who was receiving I.V. fluids from a bag hanging from a tree branch, said that he was spending his third day sleeping on a gurney outside. His main complaint was the smell of decomposing bodies that permeated the air around the hospital. Tom Fletcher, the United Nations under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said he has allocated $15 million from the U.N.’s global emergency fund to Venezuela. “Grateful to donors who make this possible,” he wrote on social media. This is why CERF exists.After two deadly earthquakes struck Venezuela, where millions already needed aid, I’ve allocated US$15M from the UN’s Global Emergency Fund CERF to help partners respond fast and provide urgent assistance.Grateful to donors who make this possible. pic.twitter.com/zwTZTXVaBt At the Hospital Periférico de Catia in Caracas on Friday, a doctor tried to perform an ultrasound on an injured 5-year-old girl. “There was an earthquake, ” she said over and over, her voice almost a whisper, her hands trembling. She had survived a building collapse, with half of her body trapped, leaving her with a broken hip and leg. Her 9-year-old brother and her grandmother had been killed. Her godmother stayed by her side while doctors checked for internal injuries before clearing her to go home. Jorge Rodríguez, the National Assembly leader who has been giving an update on television, urged Venezuelans not to travel to La Guaira, even if they are eager to help. He said that the influx of good samaritans would only congest roads and impede access for the military, police officers and rescue workers transporting victims. “Please don’t go down to La Guaira,” he said. “The best thing you can do to help, the best support, is not to congest the roads.” Droves of Venezuelans went to La Guaira on Thursday, carrying donations on the back of motorcycles and pickup trucks, according to multiple videos on social media. The U.S. military announced a “surge” in its contribution to aid efforts in Venezuela on Friday. Two of its largest transport planes will deliver rescue teams and equipment. They will be joined by an an airfield assessment team that will attempt to repair runways at the country’s main international airport in La Guaira, the most affected zone. Two navy ships and three army helicopters will also join the mission. U.S.-Venezuela relations have been transformed since the U.S. military deposed Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s former president, in January, and extradited him to New York on charges of “narco-terrorism.” Since then, Washington’s chosen successor, Delcy Rodríguez, has yielded to pressure from the Trump administration to shift the country’s allegiances away from U.S. adversaries and accept greater American control over its natural resources.
Original Source: NYTimes
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