Venezuela Earthquakes Kill At Least 1,719 as La Guaira Rescue Efforts Continue

A pair of powerful earthquakes in Venezuela has killed at least 1,719 people, with rescue efforts continuing for thousands still missing or trapped beneath rubble in the northern port city of La Guaira.

“Officials in Venezuela have announced that the confirmed death toll following a pair of powerful earthquakes that struck the northwest of the country last week has increased to 1,719, as rescue efforts continue for thousands who remain missing or trapped beneath the rubble”

Al Jazeera

Jorge Rodriguez, the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, said 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.

Al Jazeera

A strong aftershock jolted Venezuela earlier on Monday, with the United States Geological Survey registering a 4.6-magnitude aftershock at a depth of 10 kilometres and an epicentre north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.

CNN reported that NASA researchers estimate approximately 58,870 buildings were damaged or destroyed by the twin earthquakes, based on a report using radar from the Sentinel-1 satellite operated by the European Space Agency.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday, "Today we have recovered people alive and, therefore, operations are not being suspended. We always maintain hope," as international and local rescue teams continued searching.

Jorge Rodriguez told state television that the critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped victims after a natural disaster passed on Saturday evening, even as rescues on Sunday offered glimmers of hope.

BBC

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

NBC News reported that a senior official of the Trump administration said three Americans are among those killed, while a second senior administration official said 12 are missing and more than 300 have reached out to the U.S. State Department requesting assistance.

With the survival window fading, NBC News said time was running out to rescue those still trapped beneath mountains of debris, while Rodríguez said search and rescue operations would continue after 33 people had been found over the weekend.

“• Death toll: More than 1,700 people have died since last week’s devastating earthquakes in Venezuela”

CNN

The BBC described rescuers listening for survivors at the Mariola and Maribel Residences near a beach in La Guaira, where the message "Please, let us listen. Don't make noise! It seems like there's someone here" was repeated as noise was silenced.

PBS reported that Monday’s temblor struck near the epicenter of last week’s quakes—27 kilometers north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast—and measured 4.6 magnitude, while Colombia’s geological survey put the magnitude at 5.1.

CNN said officials are hoping a surge of foreign aid and responders will bolster emergency workers and help address humanitarian needs, and it noted that an Israeli aid and disaster response team would depart for Venezuela on Tuesday.