Venezuela Twin Earthquakes Kill 2,645, UN Estimates $37 Billion Damage

Venezuela’s twin earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck north-central Venezuela on June 24, 39 seconds apart, and the official death toll climbed to 2,645 on Friday as a United Nations-backed assessment estimated at least $37 billion in direct physical damage.

“Las impactantes cifras que revelan la magnitud de los terremotos que golpearon Venezuela hace una semana Este miércoles se cumple una semana desde el doble terremoto que ha dejado en Venezuela un nivel de destrucción y sufrimiento que escapa a cualquier cifra”

BBC

The Miami Herald said the updated figures released by the Ministry of Communication put injuries at 12,666 and reported 6,462 people rescued alive, while 15,050 remained without permanent housing after losing their homes.

BBC

The BBC described the week after the double quake as a period when “la ventana crítica se está cerrando para hallar sobrevivientes,” even as the search-and-rescue operations continued with thousands of rescuers from Venezuela and “de más de 30 países.”

The BBC also reported that the government of Venezuela’s latest figure for deaths was 2,295, with heridos at 11.267, and quoted the UN resident coordinator Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro saying, “sin duda estamos ante una cifra superior a la comunicada.”

As aftershocks continued, the El Nuevo Herald said the official death toll rose to at least 1,450 on Sunday, with 3,150 people hospitalized and 12,721 officially classified as displaced, based on updated figures released by National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez.

The same report said Rodríguez stated the country had logged 512 aftershocks since the main seismic event, up from 430 reported on Saturday, and described residents in La Guaira and Caracas sleeping outdoors in plazas, parks, sports courts, and improvised camps.

El Nuevo Herald

In a separate account, El Watan reported that a new aftershock rekindled terror five days after the twin earthquakes that killed 1,719 people, with the aftershock measured at magnitude 4.6 by the USGS and at 5.1 by Colombia.

El Watan also quoted a resident, Amarelis Mendoza of El Hatillo in Caracas, saying, “They seemed almost as strong as Wednesday’s quake,” and reported that since Wednesday, June 24, 609 aftershocks had been recorded.

The BBC said the UN’s UNICEF agency reported that there are 1,8 millones de personas que necesitan ayuda humanitaria, de las cuales 680.000 son niños, while the IRC warned that “La magnitud de la respuesta no está a la altura de la magnitud de la necesidad humanitaria.”

“Five days after the devastating twin earthquakes that killed 1,719 people and left tens of thousands missing, a new aftershock sparked panic Monday morning in northern Venezuela”

El Watan

In parallel, the El Nuevo Herald said authorities launched a new online registry, localizapacientes.com, where users can search for people by name or ID number to determine whether they are receiving care in hospitals anywhere in the country.

The El Nuevo Herald also reported that authorities activated a psychological helpline —0800-AYUDA-01— staffed by psychologists and psychiatrists to help people facing trauma, grief, and emotional distress.

Meanwhile, the Miami Herald said the emergency is increasingly giving way to rebuilding entire communities while uncertainty remains over the fate of people still unaccounted for, noting that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other aid organizations previously estimated roughly 50,000 people remain unaccounted for.