Over 4,900 dead, thousands homeless after dual Venezuela earthquakes

The death toll from the devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has climbed to 4,930, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez announced on Thursday, July 16.

In a detailed update published on the social media platform X, Rodríguez reported that search and rescue teams have successfully pulled 6,462 survivors alive from the debris, as per Caliber.Az.

While Venezuelan authorities have not yet released official figures on the number of people unaccounted for, independent estimates by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) suggest that the number of missing persons could be as high as 50,000.

The disaster was triggered by two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, which struck just 39 seconds apart. Since the initial tremors, seismologists have recorded 1,308 aftershocks.

The double seismic shock caused widespread structural devastation, damaging 856 buildings, including 190 that collapsed entirely. The coastal state of La Guaira bore the brunt of the destruction.

According to official figures, the disaster has left 17,907 people homeless. Currently, 21,210 displaced individuals are housed across 107 temporary camps. The government has so far distributed humanitarian assistance to more than 128,000 affected families.

In response to the growing humanitarian crisis, the government has deployed more than 1,200 healthcare professionals to La Guaira to prevent potential disease outbreaks in the crowded temporary settlements. The Venezuelan Health Ministry is coordinating directly with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to manage vaccine distribution, sanitation measures, and ongoing epidemiological surveillance.

By Tamilla Hasanova