Venezuela earthquake death toll rises as desperate rescue efforts continue

The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes climbed to 1,719 dead and 5,034 injured as families in La Guaira, north of Caracas, kept digging through collapsed homes with crowbars, pickaxes and bare hands. The magnitude 7.2 shock on June 24 was followed seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 quake, and authorities blocked access to the hardest-hit coastal zone as traffic and volunteers jammed the only road into the disaster area.

Diana Sandrano said she would keep looking for her missing brother “as long as it takes,” while Nazareth Jimenez watched neighbors cut through concrete with hammers and power tools. Few state rescue teams were visible in the worst-hit areas, and an aftershock early Monday shook nerves again without causing new damage.

The International Organization for Migration put the number of people who could be affected at up to 6.76 million, including up to 2 million in Caracas, and its satellite analysis found 31.5 percent of buildings in Catia La Mar damaged. The U.S. State Department deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team of more than 250 people, including Urban Search-and-Rescue teams from Fairfax County, Los Angeles County and Miami-Dade County, carrying more than 200,000 pounds of specialized equipment.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez called the disaster the “most brutal natural catastrophe” in Venezuela’s history, and the 1967 Caracas earthquake killed about 240 people. Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for Venezuela on Sunday, while La Guaira remained under military control and permit restrictions as rescuers worked through the rubble in Catia La Mar, Moron and other coastal communities.