Venezuela's double earthquake: 1,450 dead, 50,000 missing as rescuers pull survivors from rubble four days on

The double blow

Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela on Wednesday 24 June, flattening entire neighbourhoods. The National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez confirmed on Sunday that 1,450 people had lost their lives, 774 buildings were damaged and 189 of those suffered total collapse. The United Nations puts the number of missing at around 50,000, a figure far higher than the few hundred acknowledged by Venezuelan authorities.

Miracles under the rubble

Against fading expectations, rescuers continue to find survivors. On Saturday an 11-year-old boy was extracted alive from the debris in Caraballeda, north of Caracas. Colombian firefighter Nelson Quintin described the moment:

The way the structure collapsed created an air pocket that sheltered him. He suffered no injuries. It is immense joy.

On Sunday, American and French teams brought out a father and his teenage son, both exhausted and coated in dust. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez posted on social media a video of the boy's rescue the night before, writing:

Every life is a source of hope for Venezuela.

A nine-month-old baby and its mother were also saved after nearly three days trapped.

Economic ruin

Preliminary UNDP estimates, based on satellite imagery and demographic data, put material damage at nearly $7 billion, equivalent to about 6% of GDP. That assessment does not include infrastructure damage, broader economic consequences or long-term reconstruction costs. The International Organization for Migration says up to 6.76 million people may have been affected, including 2 million in Caracas alone. The calamity compounds an already dire economic situation: Venezuela was on the verge of restructuring a colossal public debt when the quakes hit.

Anger and delays

Across the disaster zone, survivors accuse the government of abandoning them. In La Guaira, 54-year-old merchant Luis Flores helped form a human chain to remove rubble by hand:

It is very hard. We are doing all this with just the strength of our arms.

Resident Hector Aguilera, who lost four family members under a collapsed building, said:

We have no hope left. All I have left are memories.

Volunteers were denied access to the worst-hit areas unless they obtained a pass from a government office. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez was booed when she visited an upscale neighbourhood of Caracas on Friday.

World rushes to help

International rescue teams from Switzerland, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Ecuador, El Salvador, France and the United States are now on the ground. A runway at Caracas airport was reopened for US aid flights. Swiss operations chief Fabien Walterio described the pressure:

We must not forget that people have been under the rubble for a long time now, with the heat. We are really racing against the clock.

French civil protection deployed 85 rescuers and 20 tonnes of equipment. At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV expressed solidarity after Sunday's Angelus prayer:

I wish to express my solidarity with our Venezuelan brothers and sisters affected by the recent earthquakes that have caused many victims and wounded.

The UN is coordinating the fragmented effort, but aid officials stress that the window for finding survivors is closing fast.