More than two weeks after twin powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela in rapid succession, the death toll pulled from the rubble continues to climb. According to government figures, the number of victims now stands at over 4,490 as of Monday, while 16,740 residents were injured and thousands more remain listed as missing.
1+Rescue teams—assisted by an Israeli delegation and families of the missing—continue to comb through the debris daily searching for those unaccounted for. Last Friday, another earthquake measuring 3.0 struck the capital, triggering panic among residents still reeling from the disaster and prompting building evacuations.
The scale of recovery efforts now facing Venezuela is massive. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimated direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure at roughly $37 billion. The UN issued an urgent appeal last Wednesday for nearly $300 million to assist 1.3 million people in need of immediate aid. Mobile kitchens, clinics, and field hospitals have been deployed across public spaces in La Guaira state in the north—where the worst destruction was recorded.
1+The coastal state of La Guaira suffered the worst damage and was declared a disaster zone, with a waterfront hotel in the city of Macuto among dozens of buildings completely destroyed. Daily life for residents has been upended—most homes remain without drinking water, internet reception is weak, and gas services have been shut off to prevent leaks and explosions.