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The death toll from twin earthquakes that hit Venezuela Wednesday night is expected to reach into the thousands as rescuers continue to search for bodies trapped in the rubble. Hospitals are rapidly reaching a breaking point, and thousands of survivors have been left homeless. Reporter Andreína Chávez’s building was one of the countless residences in Venezuela’s capital Caracas and its surrounding region that were damaged by the massive quakes. Chávez was on the street when the earthquakes struck, and says she “saw at least three buildings partially collapse right in front of [her].”

As Venezuelans band together to find survivors, the country is calling for international support and resources to step up critical rescue and recovery efforts. “We weren’t prepared for a disaster of this magnitude,” says Chávez. “Venezuela is a country that has been under U.S. sanctions … as well as a country that has an infrastructure that is very deteriorated. We have public services that are very deteriorated, and all of that has been something that has really added to this tragedy.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

We’re going to continue with the Supreme Court decisions that came out yesterday, but first, we’ve just made a connection with Venezuela, so we are going to go to it. The death toll from the twin earthquakes has risen to over 200, expected to rise dramatically as rescuers search for survivors trapped in the rubble. Thousands of people remain missing. At least 4,300 are injured in the two quakes that struck about a hundred miles west of Caracas Wednesday evening as many people were at home celebrating a national holiday. They were the strongest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in over a century. In Caracas, residents looked for friends and family trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

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SURVIVOR: [translated] We are here in solidarity with a colleague whose wife is under all this structure, his children. He has two children and his wife under there. And with the hope of finding them alive and well, we are here, as I say, in solidarity, hoping that his family is well. And, well, as I say, I’m not from the area. My building suffered some damage, but nothing compared to what this guy is going through in this place.

SURVIVOR: [translated] We are here in........

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