Venezuela aftershocks deepen fears as thousands remain missing
Aftershocks kept shaking northern Venezuela as families said 68,900 people were missing and the death toll climbed to 1,450.
The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes climbed to at least 1,450, while 68,900 people were still missing as aftershocks kept rattling the hard-hit north. The quakes struck about 40 seconds apart on Wednesday, June 24, first at magnitude 7.2 near San Felipe and then at magnitude 7.5 near Yumare, with the U.S. Geological Survey warning early of major casualties and extensive damage.
Survivors were still being found days later: rescuers pulled a father and son alive from rubble four days after the disaster, and 33 people were found alive over the weekend. Even then, the ground kept moving, including a magnitude 4.8 aftershock on Saturday, part of more than 20 aftershocks recorded since the initial quakes.
The response was slowed by damage and access limits in La Guaira, where heavy equipment was scarce. Venezuelan authorities deployed more than 14,000 military and police personnel to patrol affected areas and restrict access, while more than 2,000 rescue units from 21 international organizations were on the ground or on the way. The United States sent 80-person search-and-rescue teams from Los Angeles and Fairfax County, with Miami crews also en route, and had already committed $150 million in disaster aid while preparing a larger package.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency, suspended airport operations, halted trains and canceled schools. By Saturday, one runway at Caracas’s Simón Bolívar International Airport remained operational, even as the airport stayed within the emergency response zone. Rodríguez later visited Macuto in La Guaira and said the government hoped to recover as many people alive as possible.
Venezuelan officials first put the death toll at at least 188 dead and 1,520 injured, then at 235, before the count surged to 1,430 by Saturday. Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, said 12,721 people had been displaced. Pope Leo also sent an initial €100,000 emergency donation as rescue crews kept searching through unstable ruins.
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