Reactions to the earthquakes in Venezuela

Seismologist: Striking – double quake is unusual

The two major earthquakes in Venezuela occurred barely a minute apart and only about five kilometers apart. It is striking because double quakes are very unusual, says seismologist Ari Tryggvason to DN.

– I have not had time to look at the data from the event yet, but my guess is that the first one has increased the tension in the ground so that the second one was triggered, says Tryggvason, who is a professor at the Department of Geosciences at Uppsala University.

The earthquakes occurred at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. At present, 32 people have been confirmed dead, but the death toll is feared to rise sharply given the magnitude of the earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5. According to the US agency USGS's formal assessment for earthquakes of this magnitude, there is a risk of between 1,000 and 10,000 deaths.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: No information about injured Swedes in Venezuela

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no information about Swedes who have been injured or killed in the strong earthquakes in Venezuela, writes DN.

Just under 20 people are listed on the so-called Swedish list that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has, even though it is not an exact measure of how many Swedes are actually in the country.

"It is voluntary to register for and not everyone registers or deregisters," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes to DN.

At least 32 people have currently been confirmed dead in the earthquakes, but the death toll is expected to rise sharply.