US Deploys Emergency Teams to Quake-Hit Venezuela as Death Toll Rises

Rubio says US providing "big, fast, effective" support to Venezuela

Manama, June 25

Speaking to reporters in Manama, Bahrain, the US Secretary of State detailed the immediate dispatch of American emergency personnel. "We're already deploying search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. There'll be some others we'll add," Rubio told reporters. "That's their most immediate need right now: search and rescue efforts."

Rubio also shared that, with Venezuela's airport "badly damaged", the US Department of War will "deploy assets there". He added that the government will provide assistance with "overhead imagery" to assess damage, "especially in coastal areas where they don't have full visibility over what the damage has been and what the impact has been."

"We have a whole-of-government response," Rubio said. "It'll be big. It'll be fast and it'll be effective."

The Secretary noted that a broader international coalition is taking shape, stating that multiple countries have offered to help, including Qatar, El Salvador and Chile.

"There will be some others," he said, adding that these initial deployments are meant to cover "those are the acute short-term needs over the next 48 to 72 hours."

The announcement comes as the death toll in Venezuela has climbed to at least 164 following devastating earthquakes, while 971 others have been confirmed injured, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez announced in an update early on Thursday.

According to CNN, authorities fear that the actual number of fatalities could be significantly higher due to the vast number of destroyed and damaged buildings, as emergency teams press on with search and rescue operations. Rodriguez noted that the region has been rattled by at least 30 aftershocks following the primary twin tremors.

In an interview with Venezuela's state broadcaster, Rodriguez stated that she is coordinating with the United Nations to deploy rescue teams, CNN reported. She is also in discussions with the International Monetary Fund to establish an initial fund of USD 200 million for the reconstruction of the nation.

The powerful back-to-back earthquakes hit Venezuela during the early hours of Thursday (Indian Standard Time), causing massive destruction and flattening buildings in the capital city of Caracas. According to officials and monitoring agencies, the twin quakes stand as the most powerful seismic events to strike the Latin American country in a century.

Data from the US Geological Survey (USGS) indicated that the first tremor measured a magnitude of 7.1, striking at a shallow depth of 13 kilometres, with its epicentre situated west of Moron, a coastal community around 168 kilometres west of Caracas.

Barely 40 seconds later, a more violent 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the exact same area at a depth of 10 kilometres, with its epicentre roughly 16 kilometres southwest of Moron, severely intensifying the impact across the affected zones.

Following the severe seismic activity, the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued tsunami alerts for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, though these warnings were subsequently withdrawn.

In light of the ongoing crisis, US Secretary of State Rubio said there will be a better assessment of the situation after the next 48 hours in Venezuela.

"The second phase, of course, will be identifying their longer-term and acute needs," he told reporters in Bahrain. "We'll have a better assessment of that after the next 48 hours, when we are on the ground and as the Venezuelan authorities get more visibility regarding the level of damage in terms of housing."

Rubio also said the US will see what can be done to help Venezuela restore the internet and telecommunications.

Emphasising the primary humanitarian focus on the ground, US Secretary of State Rubio said the main objective is to rescue victims buried in debris in Venezuela.

"Right now we're worried that there are people trapped in rubble. We want to help them get out. Some of those people are relatives that live in the United States, but no matter what, the United States has always responded to humanitarian crises, especially in our own hemisphere. That's what we're focused on now," Rubio told reporters.

"We're faced with this and now we have to respond to it, and we will in a very positive way."

— ANI