Two earthquakes kill at least 1,430 in Venezuela

Two back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday, damaging or collapsing scores of buildings from Caracas to the coast. The quakes left at least 1,430 people dead, more than 3,200 injured and hundreds missing. The first quake measured magnitude 7.5 and ruptured about 100 miles of fault, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The second quake began 39 seconds later. The rupture moved from the Boconó fault system about 25 miles from the coast onto the San Sebastián fault.

Prior engineering warnings Engineers had identified the combination of tall concrete buildings and soft soils as a major risk for years. A 2023 study coauthored by Eduardo Núñez Castellanos found buildings higher than 20 stories built to minimum Venezuelan code had more than an 80 percent chance of collapse on soft soil.

Núñez, a structural engineer and associate professor at Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción in Chile, said photos showed collapsed buildings higher than 15 stories with construction deficiencies. He cited an emphasis on profit over safety and insufficient oversight during construction.

Regional seismic context Venezuela sits on the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates. The last major quake to strike Caracas was a magnitude 6.6 event in 1967 that killed 240 people. Michael Schmitz, a geophysics professor at Simón Bolívar University and Central University of Venezuela, said the death toll could reach 50,000, the midpoint of the U.S. Geological Survey's most likely range.

The agency estimated a 44 percent chance the toll would fall between 10,000 and 100,000. Ramón Mata Lemus, lead author of the 2023 study, said older concrete-frame buildings, masonry structures and soft-story buildings suffered the worst damage. Alejandro Giuliano, former director of Venezuela's National Institute of Seismic Prevention, said seismic-resistance norms must be respected.