A visit by a China Media Group (CMG) reporter to Caracas' Chacao municipality found the area grappling with building damage and shortage of medicine and medical supplies after two seven-plus magnitude shallow earthquakes hit Venezuela seconds apart on Wednesday.
Chacao, which falls under the jurisdiction of Miranda State and forms a key part of the Caracas metropolitan area, is one of the areas hit hardest by the disaster.
According to observations by the reporter, multiple buildings in the city showed varying degrees of damage, with some exterior walls peeling off, the chunks of fallen debris cleared and piled up at the roadside.
On the streets of Chacao, repair teams were operating at full strength, mobilizing personnel and equipment to the areas in need.
"We have all the repair tools ready, a pickup truck, materials including cables, and everything else needed for circuit repairs, plus professional technicians on hand," said a personnel from a circuit engineering firm, as his crew prepared to head for La Guaira State, the worst-affected area.
At a 24-hour pharmacy, staff told the CMG reporter that the quakes had left them short of medical supplies, medicines and food.
"We've been hit hard by the earthquake. Right now, we're running low on just about everything, medical equipment, alcohol, gauze, gloves, syringes, disinfectant, saline, and we're especially short on suturing materials. Our supplies are already stretched thin. And we still haven't been told when we'll get restocked," said a pharmacy staff.
At the hotel where the CMG reporter was staying, cracks were seen across multiple walls, with some sections of plaster peeling off. Two of the three elevators were out of service for repairs. Hotel staff said the damage appeared to be mostly superficial and no structural issues had been found, adding that the hotel remained operational.
The death toll from Wednesday's twin devastating earthquakes in Venezuela had risen to 1,430 on Saturday, with 3,238 others injured and tens of thousands still searching for their loved ones.
Quake-hit Venezuelan city of Chacao faces building damage, medicine shortage
