The perfect storm that turbocharged Venezuela's twin quakes

CARCAS – A dangerous cocktail of tectonic positioning, loose earth and shoddy construction contributed to the unprecedented damage caused by Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, experts say.Jennire Garcia’s home in the coastal Catia La Mar neighbourhood was rendered unliveable by the tremors in late June, which devastated the state of La Guaira.The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes killed over 6,300 people and sent 190 buildings crashing down, while 856 more sustained damage.Garcia and her family are now living in tents next to the ruins, and the 42-year-old says she is “sick with stress all day long.”This was the same site as deadly mudslides that killed thousands of people in 1999.The region’s “unconsolidated” soils, where construction requires specific geotechnical studies, added to the severity of