"We have hundreds of deaths and a thousand injured in hospital. The hardest-hit state is La Guaira. There are dozens of damaged buildings. It's a real tragedy there. We are receiving recovery and rescue teams. I want to thank President Trump, as well as other governments who are helping us." This was stated by Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, providing an update on the earthquake death toll in the country. The toll is unfortunately expected to worsen: more than 20,000 people are missing.

Two very violent tremors, shortly after each other, brought Venezuela to its knees, causing hundreds of buildings to collapse. Panic and despair spread among people who lost everything in a matter of minutes, both in the capital, Caracas, and across a vast area in the west of the country.

"The house was falling on us, it was like something out of a horror movie," said a woman who escaped by fleeing her Caracas home, now reduced to a pile of rubble. "The roar was terrifying," added a neighbor.

The international airport was severely damaged, suspending flights: the roof collapsed in many areas, causing panic among passengers. Telephone services went down within minutes, pressured by calls from millions of Venezuelans living abroad, anxious for information on their loved ones. Gas supplies were also suspended for security reasons.

The scale of the disaster suggests the worst: the first shock had a magnitude of 7.1, the second a whopping 7.5. The consequences of this earthquake are made even more serious by the shallowness of the epicenter, just 10 kilometers underground. And, above all, the homes were built without any compliance with anti-seismic regulations.

It was the most powerful earthquake in the country in 126 years, with tremors felt up to 160 kilometers from the epicenter, on the border with Colombia.

"There are currently no Italian victims," said the Italian ambassador to Venezuela, Giovanni Umberto De Vito, reassuring that the crisis unit is working.