Four major earthquakes hit in one day, and Venezuela took the worst of it
Wednesday turned into one of those days seismologists will be talking about for a while. In the span of a few hours, the planet got rattled four separate times, and the worst of it landed on Venezuela, where two massive quakes struck back to back and left Caracas in pieces.Venezuela gets hit twice i
By Timesofindia.com
Wednesday turned into one of those days seismologists will be talking about for a while.
In the span of a few hours, the planet got rattled four separate times, and the worst of it landed on Venezuela, where two massive quakes struck back to back and left Caracas in pieces.Venezuela gets hit twice in under a minuteAn initial 7.2-magnitude foreshock hit around 6 p.m.
Eastern time, and less than a minute later, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the same general area, according to the US Geological Survey.
NPR reported that the epicenters were roughly three miles apart, near the town of Morón on Venezuela's Caribbean coast, about 100 miles west of Caracas.
A USGS seismologist, Paul Earle, told NPR that when two earthquakes hit close together in time, it becomes genuinely difficult to untangle their exact magnitudes.
Al Jazeera noted that the US Geological Survey estimated casualties could range anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 people.
NPR's modeling told a similar story, with USGS projecting deaths potentially reaching into the thousands or even tens of thousands, alongside economic losses running from billions to tens of billions of dollars.Earthquake rocks Venezuela: Footage from airport in Maiquetía captures moments of panic as travellers scramble to escapeTo put the scale in perspective, this pairing of quakes, described by USGS as a "doublet," produced the strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela since 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude quake struck the country.
Eyewitness accounts coming out of Caracas paint a chaotic picture.
One shopkeeper described being trapped on the top floor of a mall and having to evacuate through emergency stairs.
A 69-year-old woman recalled watching the windows start to move before everything gave way.
A bank employee said the stairwell in her building tore loose and the wall cracked right in front of her.Japan and California hit tooBut Venezuela wasn't alone on the seismic map that day.
About half an hour after the Venezuela quakes, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the east coast of Japan.
No major damage was reported there, which is something at least.
And earlier that same Wednesday, a 5.6-magnitude quake hit Northern California, also without significant damage.So four major quakes, four very different outcomes.
Two of them leveled buildings and triggered a state of emergency.
The other two barely made headlines outside seismology circles.Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency Wednesday night.
Recovery teams are still working through the rubble in Caracas.
For now, the country's just trying to get through the aftershocks.Get the latest lifestyle news and trends.
Download the TOI App.