Venezuela earthquake toll tops 1,400 as rescue efforts stall

Rescue teams were digging through collapsed neighborhoods in Venezuela as the death toll from twin earthquakes climbed above 1,400 and the window for finding survivors kept shrinking. More than three days after the shocks hit the coast, officials said at least 3,300 people had been injured and 33 survivors were pulled out over the weekend, including children and a baby.

The quakes struck on June 24, seconds apart, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5. Venezuela declared a state of emergency after the temblors, and at least 20 aftershocks followed, rattling already damaged towns and slowing the search for people trapped under concrete and debris. The hardest-hit area was La Guaira on the northern coast near Caracas, with damage also reported in the capital and in surrounding states including Carabobo, Aragua, Miranda and Yaracuy.

The mainshock was the strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela in more than 125 years, and the largest recorded in the country since the 1900 San Narciso earthquake. The scale of the destruction has been especially stark in places such as Maiquetía, Catia La Mar, Morón and San Felipe, where damaged roads and unstable structures made access difficult even as crews moved in from the United States, the Netherlands and Costa Rica.

Officials have emphasized the rescues that did succeed, but the pace on the ground has exposed a wider problem: roads were clogged by civilian aid efforts, aftershocks kept forcing crews back, and the list of missing remained enormous. Just under 50,000 people were listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s political opposition on Sunday, underscoring how quickly the crisis had outgrown the response. In the absence of a fast, coordinated system for clearing routes, marking damaged zones and directing search teams, every hour has reduced the chance of reaching anyone still alive beneath the rubble.