On July 1st, a catastrophic earthquakes hit Venezuela. The first earthquake had a magnitude of 7.2 and the second earthquake was 7.5. Both earthquakes happened mere seconds apart. This sudden event left more than 3,100 injured and more than 1,000 dead. Rescue teams around the globe rushed in to help.

The first earthquake hit at 18:04 (local time). The first earthquake ripped through cities and caused mass chaos. Before many could recover, a second earthquake hit just 39 seconds later. The second earthquake was so massive that the shockwaves could be felt from the neighboring country of Colombia. The second earthquake tore through the country toppling any slightly unstable buildings.

The result of these earthquakes were devastating. The rare “double earthquake” destroyed much of Venezuela. Because of the country’s already deteriorating hospitals, many injured were unable to get to help. The most affected areas were the coastal port city La Guaira and the nearby cities of Caraballeda and Catia La Mar. The capital city, Caracas, also sustained much damage.

The epicenter of the earthquake was later discovered to be in the mountains of the state Yaracuy. Scientists have learned that the reason for this unusually strong earthquake was due to the depth of the earthquake. The first earthquake struck in the shallow part of the earth’s crust at 20.3 kilometers below the surface. The second earthquake struck at only 10 kilometer below the surface. This led to the massive shockwave.

On the flip side, immediately after the earthquake, rescue workers from 24 countries came to help. 275 people have been rescued in the course of three days through the efforts of the rescue teams. Despite all this, it is still not enough because it gets harder to find survivors as time goes on.