At least 164 people are dead and over 971 injured following a quick succession of a 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck 40 seconds and a few miles apart along a fault complex in Yaracuy State, Venezuela just outside of the capital city of Caracas on Wednesday, CNN reports.
The toll is expected to rise given the intensity, shallow depth of the epicenters – 14 and six miles of the two quakes – and vast spread of the damage across the socialist country.