CARACAS: The death toll from twin earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela last month has climbed to 3,342, with more than 16,700 people injured, authorities said the other day, as international rescue teams continued relief operations amid hundreds of aftershocks.
Venezuela’s Communication and Information Ministry said rescue crews were still combing through the rubble of nearly 200 collapsed structures across the affected regions.
The ministry put the number of injured at 16,740 and said 17,345 people remained homeless. It reported that 856 buildings had sustained damage, of which 190 had completely collapsed.
Authorities said 86,794 families had received emergency assistance since the earthquakes struck, though the scale of the destruction has left thousands of people in temporary shelters as officials continue to assess the damage.
Relief operations
According to the ministry, rescue crews have pulled 6,462 survivors from destroyed buildings since the disaster began. Caracas has deployed 29,567 personnel and mobilized 27,482 volunteers to coordinate the response, while 4,088 international rescue workers have arrived to assist search-and-recovery efforts in the hardest-hit areas.
The government said it had distributed 9,585 metric tons of food and 669,008 liters of water to affected communities. Medical teams have reportedly treated 23,820 patients, and officials have set up 79 temporary camps to house displaced families.
It may be recalled that the twin earthquakes, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck northern Venezuela on June 24, hitting just 39 seconds apart, according to the US Geological Survey. The quakes caused widespread destruction across several states, with La Guaira and Caracas among the hardest hit.
Seismic monitoring agencies have recorded nearly 1,000 aftershocks since the initial tremors, complicating rescue efforts and raising concerns among officials about the stability of already-damaged structures.
