Aerial footage posted by the Los Angeles County Fire Department shows the aftermath of the pair of earthquakes that devastated Venezuela this past Wednesday.
The two temblors, one a 7.2-magnitude quake determined to be a foreshock and the other a 7.5-magnitude mainshock, struck just after 6 p.m. local time on June 24 in the northern La Guaira state, according to seismologists.
According to state media reports issued Sunday and cited by the Associated Press, at least 1,450 people died in the doublet quakes, which occurred within 39 seconds of each other. Thousands more have been reported missing.
3 shot, including 1 fatally, at street takeover in Carson
As reported by the AP, “Even as the likelihood of finding people alive diminished with each passing hour, rescuers continued to free survivors from mountains of debris, offering anguished families reason to keep hopes alive.”
“Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours after a natural disaster as crucial for retrieving people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water,” the outlet said…