Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 1,719 As La Guaira Rescue Efforts Continue

Venezuela’s confirmed death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck the northwest of the country last week rose to 1,719, as rescue efforts continued for thousands still missing or trapped beneath rubble in the hardest-hit northern port city of La Guaira.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said on state television on Monday that the number of injured had risen to 5,034 and that 15,866 were now homeless after the back-to-back magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes.

A News

The earthquakes were followed by a strong aftershock on Monday, with the United States Geological Survey registering a 4.6-magnitude aftershock at a depth of 10 kilometres, with the epicentre north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.

In Caracas’ Chacao municipality, Concepcion Hernandez, 51, told The Associated Press news agency that she evacuated her apartment building after the new tremor, saying, “Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace.”

As rescuers and civilians searched for survivors in La Guaira, tensions flared and frustration grew over what many Venezuelans viewed as an inadequate response by the government, with AP describing desperation as families used shovels, heavy equipment, ropes and bare hands atop mounds of toppled concrete.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado accused the government of trying to keep Venezuelans in the dark about the scale of the emergency, telling CNN, “On June 24, my return to Venezuela became unavoidable so we could be together during this catastrophe, as a family does,”.

ABC News

CNN also reported that Machado accused authorities of blocking information about the quakes and restricting communications, while the Chacao Mayor’s Office began assessing structural damage using a “traffic light” system with buildings marked green, yellow, or red.

NBC News said a critical 72-hour window for rescuing people trapped beneath collapsed buildings had passed, even as interim President Delcy Rodríguez said on state television that “We recovered people alive today,” and “Therefore, the rescue operations will not be suspended.”

With the critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped victims after a natural disaster passing on Saturday evening, Venezuelan authorities said they were still racing against time for thousands missing or trapped beneath rubble.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday, “Today we have recovered people alive and, therefore, operations are not being suspended. We always maintain hope,” while Al Jazeera reported that aid, including water and food, had only just started to reach the hardest-hit areas where many residents continued to camp outside.

Al Jazeera said officials believe tens of thousands remain missing and that rescue efforts involved some 30,000 Venezuelan emergency workers and 2,700 foreign experts, as authorities reported support from 24 countries including more than 500 tonnes of supplies.

The UN migration agency said up to 6.76 million people could be affected and would require shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and essential relief items, while WION reported that the United Nations announced it will provide 10,000 body bags amid fears the death toll could continue to rise.

In the midst of the widening humanitarian stakes, WION said the twin earthquakes flattened entire neighbourhoods in the coastal state of La Guaira, leaving more than 1,700 people dead and tens of thousands still unaccounted for.