A visual guide to the Venezuela earthquakes
By Becky Pinnington, Lou Robinson, Annette Choi, Rosa de Acosta, Curt Merrill, CNN
(CNN) — Two major back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening. At least 1,450 people have died and thousands have been injured, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said Sunday. He added that more than 12,000 people have been displaced.
CNN is tracking developments, with maps, charts, and satellite imagery.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the two earthquakes were a rare phenomenon called a “doublet.” This occurs when two quakes of a similar magnitude occur in quick succession, often causing more damage than a single event.
In this case, the larger 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck only 39 seconds after a 7.2 magnitude foreshock. This marks the largest recorded earthquake in Venezuela for more than a century.
Both are classified as “major” earthquakes, and were felt both in Venezuela and in neighboring Colombia. Serious damage to buildings and infrastructure is expected to be reported in the coming days.
Countries around the Caribbean Sea are vulnerable to major earthquakes because of the tectonic plates in the region.
Earthquakes are measured by magnitude on a logarithmic scale — so each whole number increase translates to 32 times more energy released by the quake. Due to how the scale works, the second 7.5 magnitude quake was actually twice as large as the first, which had a magnitude of 7.2.
A round-the-clock search and rescue operation is underway in affected cities, as workers try to reach people who may be trapped under the rubble of collapsed or damaged buildings.
More than 100 buildings have collapsed in La Guaira state, the area most impacted, according to Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. The coastal state has been designated as a “disaster zone.”
Satellite imagery shows collapsed apartment buildings and warehouses there.
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—CNN’s Avery Schmitz, Lauren Kent, Kasha Patel and Gonzalo Zegarra contributed to this report.
