At Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s direction, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has begun immediate preparations for the possible dispatch of an Israeli aid delegation to Venezuela after powerful earthquakes struck the South American country on Thursday morning. The ministry said it is holding a situation assessment with relevant officials in Israel and Venezuela to examine what assistance Israel can provide, but the Air Force and Home Front Command have not yet started operational preparations for a deployment.
The disaster involved two major quakes less than a minute apart, measuring 7.1 and 7.5 on the Richter scale. The U.S. Geological Survey said the death toll could rise into the tens of thousands, with a likely range of 10,000 to 100,000 dead. The epicenter was off Venezuela’s northern coast, and the tremors caused widespread destruction and the collapse of many buildings.
In Caracas, entire buildings were reported to have fallen, while others suffered severe damage and dust clouds covered whole neighborhoods. Due to the damage, the international airport in Maiquetia was closed, and authorities began evacuating residents from affected areas.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, said the government would declare a state of emergency because of the scale of the disaster. The mayor of Chacao confirmed there were fatalities, but did not give an official number. The report also noted that Israel has recently maintained contact with Venezuela, including a first shipment of crude oil to Israel in many years and the release of Israeli citizen Yaakov Harari after more than a year in Venezuelan custody.
