Venezuela hit by fresh 4.8 quake as death toll mounts
Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez reported a fresh 4.8 magnitude offshore earthquake on Saturday, as authorities confirmed the death toll from Wednesday's devastating twin tremors had climbed to 1,430 with more than 3,200 people injured and 430 aftershocks recorded.
Fresh tremor rocks Caribbean coast
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck off Venezuela's northern coast on Saturday, rattling a nation still recovering from a pair of devastating tremors earlier in the week. The US Geological Survey said the quake's epicenter was located 35 kilometers northeast of El Limon in Aragua state, occurring at a depth of 10 kilometers at 1920GMT.
The latest seismic event came just three days after two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck the South American country within seconds of each other, causing widespread destruction across multiple states.
Twin disasters
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck 23 kilometers southeast of Yumare in Yaracuy state, while the magnitude 7.2 tremor occurred 23.9 kilometers northeast of San Felipe in the same region, according to the USGS. The two quakes hit just 39 seconds apart on Wednesday, compounding damage to infrastructure already weakened by years of economic crisis.
Casualty figures mount
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said Saturday that the confirmed death toll from Wednesday's earthquakes had risen to 1,430, with 3,238 people injured. Rodriguez added that authorities have recorded 430 aftershocks since the initial disasters struck the country.
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