The death toll from a series of powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela has risen to at least 164.
On the 25th, local time, according to Reuters and others, Interim President Delcy Rodríguez of Venezuela gave a preliminary count that at least 164 people were killed and 971 injured in back-to-back quakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that occurred around 6 p.m. the previous day.
This is a sharp increase in the scale of damage in a single day from the previously announced 32 deaths and 700 injuries.
Interim President Rodríguez appeared on state television the previous day and declared a national state of emergency as a series of quakes and more than 20 aftershocks continued.
This earthquake is the strongest to hit Venezuela in 126 years since a magnitude 7.7 quake in 1900.
In major cities including the capital, Caracas, dozens of buildings collapsed, and parts of the international airport were also damaged. In particular, as it was a holiday, residents staying at home were trapped under building debris one after another, prompting rescue authorities to conduct overnight search and rescue operations.
Interim President Rodríguez said she would allocate a $200 million (about 308 billion won) budget for recovery, using resources from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).