Venezuela's twin earthquakes leave thousands dead as volunteers fill response gaps and disease threat grows

The quakes and the rising toll

On June 24 at 6:04 p.m., two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck Venezuela less than a minute apart, with epicenters in Yaracuy state west of Caracas. The tremors devastated coastal La Guaira state, collapsing apartment blocks and burying neighbourhoods. By July 1, the official death toll had climbed to 2,295, according to the National Assembly, with more than 11,000 injured. An unofficial list of the missing circulated by residents stands at 40,567, and the United Nations humanitarian coordinator warned the number of dead will keep rising.

The death toll will unavoidably and sadly keep on growing as the search-and-rescue operation continues, and as we are able to detail further assessment of the impacts of the quakes.

A NASA analysis of satellite data estimated 58,870 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and the UN's International Organization for Migration calculated that up to 6.8 million people could need shelter, water and healthcare.

Improvised shelters and young volunteers

In La Guaira, the 'Republic of Panama' school has been turned into a shelter for more than 350 people, with an average of three families sleeping per classroom. Staffed around the clock by a dozen volunteers (all members of the youth wing of Venezuela's socialist party and aged 20 to 27), the shelter uses custom-designed software to register residents, track injuries and manage meal distributions. The volunteers are themselves homeless after the quakes and sleep on metal bunk beds supplied by the commerce ministry.

We're like the Titanic. We go down with the ship.

Outside, other residents have taken matters into their own hands. Andreina Velasquez, who survived the collapse of her six-floor apartment block in Catia la Mar, now distributes face masks to protect people from dust and the stench of decomposing bodies.

I've been here every day. Other people came to help, but they don't have helmets, they don't have gloves, they don't have masks. That's why I'm helping.

A health system at breaking point

Hospitals in Caracas are overflowing with patients from the hardest-hit areas. France 24 reported that facilities in Petare are receiving an average of 200 injured people an hour, and relatives are forced to search door-to-door, consulting lists posted on hospital walls or digital registries to locate loved ones. Patients requiring surgery for fractures face a crippling shortage of plates, screws and other supplies. Ambulance services are scarce and private transfers prohibitively expensive, families say.

The medical emergency now extends beyond trauma. Doctors warn that untreated wounds and the collapse of sanitation are fuelling a secondary crisis of infectious diseases.

The issue we foresee just around the corner is the infections that patients who have been exposed to the disaster for the longest time might bring.

Slow state response and international aid

Criticism of the government's reaction has grown. WOLA president Carolina Jimenez noted that help from federal authorities only reached parts of La Guaira three days after the earthquakes, describing the state as the 'last responder'. The U.S., which has taken control of Venezuela's oil industry and seized former leader Nicolás Maduro in January, has deployed 900 military personnel, repaired the runway at Caracas' main international airport and offered $300 million in assistance through aid groups and the UN. The UN has agreed to procure 10,000 body bags as the search for remains continues. The UN Development Program estimates direct material damage at more than $6.7 billion.

Yo no migraría otra vez después de esto. Si volviera a nacer, nunca migraría.