VENEZUELA
Twin quakes test a government born in January
Collapsed building after earthquakes hit La Guaira, Venezuela. Photo: Gaby Oraa/Reuters/Folhapress
Two earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck northern Venezuela 39 seconds apart on Wednesday evening, toppling buildings from the Caribbean coast to Caracas.
👉 Why it matters. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said early Friday that at least 589 people had died and 2,980 were injured, figures she called provisional with thousands still missing. The US Geological Survey, which placed both epicenters near Morón about 170 km west of Caracas, issued its gravest alerts and called the disaster widespread. The second tremor was the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900.
La Guaira, pressed against Caracas and no stranger to calamity — a 1999 mudslide there killed thousands — absorbed the worst. The International Organization for Migration estimates that…
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