The frightening power of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Caracas, Venezuela on Wednesday was on full display during the first inning of a pro baseball broadcast.

As seen on the country’s national baseball league YouTube channel, LMBP TV, players for both the Carabobo Mariners and Caracas Senators scrambled out of their respective dugouts to run to shallow centerfield, where they were safe from any potential falling debris.

Only moments earlier, the Mariners’ Bryant Flete was digging in at the plate when the stadium cameras began shaking wildly.

Cables suspending the netting around the backstop could be seen swinging from side to side as the home plate umpire removed his mask and looked upwards towards the press box.

Nobody appears to have been hurt at the stadium, but the panic of the situation is evident from the announcers’ voices and their abrupt departure from the booth.

As was later discovered, that quake was just the first of two to hit Caracas on Wednesday, the second of which was measured at 7.5. There are a high number of casualties expected: Currently the US Geological Survey (USGS) is estimating anywhere between 10,000 and 100,000 deaths. 

As seen on the country’s national baseball league YouTube channel, LMBP TV, players for both the Carabobo Mariners and Caracas Senators scrambled out of their respective dugouts

The Mariners’ Bryant Flete stepped away from the plate as the stadium began to shake 

Cables suspending the netting around the backstop could be seen swinging from side to side as the home plate umpire removed his mask and looked upwards towards the press box

Not only did buildings collapse in Venezuela, but some buildings in the Brazilian Amazon some 1,000 miles away were reportedly evacuated as a result of the earthquakes.

Late Wednesday, acting president Delcy Rodríguez said she was preparing to address the nation.

Rodríguez’s failure to address the nation within three hours of the earthquake, while her government did not give a report of injuries or fatalities in that time, was criticized by politicians and Venezuelans.

‘The uncertainty becomes yet another layer of anguish,’ Edmundo González, the opposition’s 2024 presidential candidate, said on X.

The USGS initially said the first earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1, later revising that to 7.2, and its epicenter was west of the community of Morón, located along the country’s Caribbean coast, about 168 kilometers (104 miles) west of Caracas. The quake had a depth of 22 kilometers.

The USGS reported an even larger 7.5-magnitude earthquake just a minute later. The second quake had a depth of 10 kilometers and its epicenter was 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Morón.

The quakes, among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century, struck shortly after 6pm. People evacuated swaying buildings in the capital Caracas, many visibly shocked as they saw entire walls that had collapsed, making furniture visible from the street. Dust columns could also be seen in two neighborhoods of the capital, where restaurants and other businesses are typically busy.

People stand on a park after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela on Wednesday

A woman is seen crying with her hands clenched together as bystanders pick through rubble

People remained on the streets for hours, even after sunset. Some sat on the ground hugging their pets as dust gathered around them. Collapsed buildings, toppled electric poles and debris blocked streets. Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone signal.

‘It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,’ Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.

The lack of cellphone signal in parts of Venezuela deepened the distress of many families, particularly those among the more than 7.7 million people who have left the country during its protracted crisis.

‘May strength, serenity, and solidarity prevail among us in the face of this difficult time,’ opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said from exile on X.

Buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapá in Brazil’s Amazon were evacuated, according to reports on TV Globo.

The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeast regions, but there were no reports of damages or injuries. The Colombian Maritime Authority in a statement said the country’s Caribbean coast is at no risk of tsunami.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for Virgin Islands. Authorities in the Dominican Republic also issued one for the island. Another alert for Puerto Rico was quickly lifted.

A man jumps on a collapsed building after an earthquake in Caracas

An injured woman is assisted on the ground in Caracas following Wednesday’s earthquakes

A woman is sene embracing a child in the streets following Wednesday’s earthquakes 

Strong earthquakes are unusual in Venezuela.

While the country sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates make earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America. Along the Pacific coast — in Mexico and Chile, for example — earthquakes are frequent. 

The two countries sit along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire,’ which is responsible for 90 percent of earthquakes, according to the USGS.

The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeast regions, but there were no reports of damages or injuries. The Colombian Maritime Authority said in a statement that the country’s Caribbean coast is at no risk of tsunami.

In Brazil’s Amazon, buildings in the cities of Manaus, Belem and Macapá also were evacuated.