Venezuela earthquake death toll climbs to 1,943, with 10,000 still missing

The earthquakes

On Wednesday evening, 24 June, two major earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 struck western Venezuela, just 39 seconds apart. The epicenter was located west of the capital, Caracas. Over 600 aftershocks have been recorded since, including a magnitude 4.2 tremor on Monday that triggered fresh alarm.

According to Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, at least 1,943 people have been confirmed dead as of Tuesday, and more than 10,500 have been injured. In the coastal state of La Guaira alone, about 30,000 people were in the towns of Catia La Mar and Caraballeda at the time of the quakes. Rodríguez said 13,500 managed to escape on their own and 6,400 others were rescued in the days that followed. About 10,000 remain unaccounted for, and he provided no further details on their fate.

A USGS model estimates the final death toll could reach tens of thousands. NASA satellite imagery suggests about 58,870 buildings have been damaged or destroyed across the affected zone, while Rodríguez put the number of collapsed or severely damaged structures at 855.

Rescues and fading hope

Hope of finding survivors is diminishing six days after the disaster. Still, rescue teams from Venezuela and numerous countries continue to comb the rubble. Jordanian rescue workers pulled a three-year-old boy alive from the debris on Tuesday. One day earlier, a 12-year-old boy was rescued by a team from Ecuador after spending five days buried. In total, Rodríguez said more than 6,400 people have been rescued, though the true survivor count could be closer to 20,000 counting those who escaped with help from family and friends.

A Swiss rescue team of 80 specialists and eight search dogs is on the ground working 12-hour shifts. Two German teams (one from the federal THW agency and one from the NGO @fire) are also operating. The German foreign ministry said there were no indications of German victims.

The deportation flight tragedy

Among the dead are 135 passengers of a US deportation flight that landed in Caracas on the day of the earthquakes. The flight, which originated in Texas, carried 147 Venezuelan deportees, according to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Only 12 survived. The group had been taken to the Hotel Santuario La Llanada in La Guaira to complete entry formalities when the quakes hit hours later. The hotel was almost completely destroyed.

Political friction and pre-existing crisis

Anger at the authorities is mounting. Videos circulating on social media show relatives demanding a more forceful rescue effort and expressing fear of looting. In one video, a man shouts at armed soldiers to help with pickaxes and shovels, after which the soldiers began clearing rubble, according to journalist Maryorin Méndez. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez was booed during a walkabout in Caracas on Friday and was criticized on Sunday for holding what was described as a merely protocol meeting with international rescue teams at a delicate moment.

Venezuela was already in a fragile state before the earthquakes. The country has been grappling with political turmoil, economic collapse and one of the world's largest migration crises. In January, Washington conducted a military operation that resulted in the capture of authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro. The current acting president was Maduro's vice president.

International assistance and health warnings

The United Nations has warned of acute shortages of food and shelter for the tens of thousands of survivors. Health experts fear epidemics may follow the disaster. Rescue workers from Jordan, Ecuador, Switzerland, Germany and other nations remain engaged, but experts say the chance of finding people alive after 72 hours is now extremely low.