The death toll from Venezuela’s catastrophic twin earthquakes has exceeded 4,000, the government confirmed Friday.
At least 4,118 people were killed and 16,740 injured in the successive tremors on June 24, which leveled entire neighborhoods in the coastal state of La Guaira, according to National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez on Telegram. Thousands more remain unaccounted for.
A 7.5-magnitude quake—the strongest to strike Venezuela in over a century—hit just 39 seconds after a 7.2-magnitude shock, collapsing entire high-rise apartment complexes.
Although official search-and-rescue operations have concluded, family members continue combing through the debris for their loved ones, hoping to provide them a dignified burial.
On Friday, a 3.0-magnitude aftershock in central Caracas triggered brief panic and prompted building evacuations.
The recovery effort facing Venezuela is immense, particularly given that state services have been severely eroded by a prolonged economic crisis.
The United Nations launched an urgent appeal Wednesday for nearly $300 million to fund earthquake relief operations assisting 1.3 million people in dire need. This comes in a country where non-governmental organizations were until recently targets of government repression. Mobile kitchens, clinics, and field hospitals now populate public spaces across La Guaira, where the devastation is most concentrated.
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure at approximately $37 billion.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has called for the release of frozen assets held abroad to finance reconstruction.
On Wednesday, she disclosed a request to King Charles III for the release of roughly 30 tons of Venezuelan gold frozen under UK sanctions.
Rodriguez has defended the government’s emergency response, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest.
Many Venezuelans have voiced anger at what they perceive as an inadequate initial response by the US-backed administration before international aid teams arrived.
With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
