What we know about Venezuela’s biggest earthquake in more than a century | CNN

Follow our live coverage here.Sigue nuestra cobertura en español aquí. Rescuers are desperately searching through piles of rubble in Venezuela after the country was rocked by two powerful earthquakes on Wednesday, leaving scores of people dead and widespread destruction in a country already beset by economic and political turmoil. At least 589 people have died, 2,980 more have been injured and many remain missing in the largest earthquake event to hit the country in more than a century. The true extent of the toll is still feared to be much higher as crews dig through rubble and survivors are left on the street with nowhere to go. This comes at a dire time for Venezuela, which is being led by an interim government after US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, and facing an economy crippled by years of hyperinflation. A magnitude 7.2 foreshock took place near San Felipe, the capital city of Yaracuy state, just after 6:04 p.m. ET. Just 40 seconds later, it was followed by a larger 7.5 magnitude quake, some 23 kilometers (about 14 miles) southeast of Yumare, a town also in Yaracuy state. It was what the US Geological Survey calls a “doublet” – a rare ph