Two major earthquakes strike northern Venezuela, collapsing buildings in Caracas

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on state television that some buildings and houses had collapsed in the capital. "Some buildings have been brought down [in Caracas], houses have collapsed," he said, without giving initial estimates of deaths or injuries. He added that protocols were being followed to gather more information. Photos and video posted to social media showed leveled structures, falling debris and people running for safety, including at Simón Bolívar International Airport, which was closed in the aftermath of the quake. Video footage also showed emergency workers climbing into the ruins of one collapsed building in Caracas as night fell.

Casualties unclear as emergency response begins

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency on Wednesday evening, saying several Venezuelan states had sustained damage, and urged the population to remain calm and called for unity. Fire brigades were deployed on the streets of Caracas, where facades of some buildings were severely damaged. Many Venezuelans were at home when the quake struck because the country was celebrating a public holiday commemorating an 1821 military victory that secured independence from Spain.

Coro Martinez, 56, a resident of eastern Caracas, described a terrifying moment inside her home. "There was a very loud crash. Things fell in the house, jugs inside the refrigerator. I've never experienced anything like it," she said, adding that she and her husband left the house as soon as the shaking stopped. An eyewitness in Valencia, west of Caracas, reported that several walls in her building had cracked or broken, and the quake's tremors were also reported in Colombia.

Why the doublet complicates analysis

The 7.5-magnitude earthquake is the largest to strike Venezuela since 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude quake hit the country, according to USGS. On Wednesday evening, USGS modeling estimated that deaths could range from the thousands to tens of thousands. The total number of casualties from the Venezuela earthquakes remained unclear on Wednesday night.

USGS seismologist Paul Earle said the proximity of the two events complicates analysis. "This doesn't happen very often. When they're right together it's hard to understand what would happen," Earle said. He added that when earthquakes occur so close together "it can be difficult to unravel the exact magnitudes and the exact locations, especially for the second event," because signals on seismograms overlap in these cases.

Tsunami warnings lifted; aftershock risk remains

According to USGS forecasting, there is a 40 percent chance that an earthquake of magnitude 6 or larger will strike the same region in Venezuela within the next week, and an "almost certainty" of a magnitude 5 or greater event in the same period. Authorities did not immediately report any casualties from the earthquake.

Tsunami warnings previously issued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands were lifted, and no advisory was in effect as of Wednesday night. About a half-hour after the Venezuela earthquakes, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the east coast of Japan's Honshu island at a depth of approximately 50 kilometers, but Japan's meteorological agency did not issue a tsunami warning. East Japan Railway announced that some trains, including the Tohoku Shinkansen, were temporarily suspended.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 5.6-magnitude quake struck Northern California, but no major damage was reported from either the Japan or California events. The series of tremors underscored the global reach of seismic activity within a single 24-hour period.