Anger grows over Venezuela quake response as death toll tops 1,430
Residents in northern Venezuela dug through rubble themselves as the death toll rose to 1,430, intensifying anger over a rescue response many called too slow.
Anger mounted in quake-hit northern Venezuela as the death toll rose to at least 1,430 and survivors said the official response had not reached people still buried under collapsed homes and buildings. The twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, struck on 24 June and were felt across Caracas and the states of La Guaira, Miranda, Carabobo, Yaracuy and Aragua.
By 27 June, authorities had confirmed 3,238 injuries, while UN agencies estimated the damage at about $6.7 billion, roughly 6% of Venezuela’s GDP. The UN said 8.6 million people were exposed to moderate to severe shaking and about 2.1 million experienced the strongest tremors, a scale that has pushed the country into one of its worst quake crises in more than a century.
The international response has grown quickly. The UN said more than 2,000 rescuers from 27 countries were deployed, including 44 international urban search-and-rescue teams with 2,245 specialists and 140 search dogs. Even so, UNHCR said the government’s response remained centered on search and rescue, emergency medical care and damage assessment, with a state of emergency declared alongside evacuations, service suspensions and the mobilization of health and rescue teams.
UNHCR also said the disaster damaged eight hospitals and caused significant damage to Simón Bolívar International Airport, deepening fears about how quickly medical and transport networks can recover. In La Guaira, authorities reported the collapse of a temporary accommodation center that had been hosting about 140 returnees who had recently arrived on a flight from the United States, adding a new displacement emergency to the destruction already spread across the coast and inland states.
Frustration has sharpened because many Venezuelans have been digging through rubble themselves while civilian-led rescue efforts have become visible in many neighborhoods. Reuters and the Associated Press both reported that residents saw those efforts as evidence that the official operation lagged behind the scale of the disaster, putting fresh pressure on Delcy Rodríguez’s emergency response and on the country’s ability to recover from the devastation now spreading far beyond the initial quake zone.
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