Rescuers from around the world are making a final push to find any remaining survivors trapped under rubble after Venezuela's twin earthquakes, which have killed over 1,700 people and left tens of thousands unaccounted for. The quakes, of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck the South American nation on consecutive days, marking the strongest seismic event in over a century.
Massive Destruction and Casualties
According to a preliminary assessment of satellite data published by NASA, the earthquakes likely damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings. The latest official count reports 1,700 dead and 5,000 injured, but no governmental figure exists for the number of missing. Other estimates place the missing in the tens of thousands. The United Nations has listed approximately 50,000 people as missing, and the disaster is estimated to have generated roughly 1.2 million tons of debris in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira.
At the only public cemetery in Caracas, the two crematory ovens have been operating at full capacity. Between Friday and Sunday, 60 to 70 burials were conducted each day. The emotional toll is evident: a cry of “Mom, I love you!” rose above the sound of sobbing and shovels mixing cement. When workers began sealing the niche of his nephew, Sergio Vergara collapsed to his knees. He had found his nephew and his entire family in a collapsed building in La Guaira. “It was a horrible experience, pulling him out, his children,” said the 42-year-old man.
Rescue Efforts and International Aid
Five days after the quakes flattened entire neighborhoods, hopes of finding survivors are fading. The critical 72-hour window for likely survivor recovery closed on Saturday at 6:04 pm. However, on Monday, rescuers pulled out a 21-year-old man identified as Aaron Levi from under the rubble in the coastal town of Tanaguarena, according to a video shared by a photographer who witnessed the operation.
Twenty-seven countries have mobilized nearly 40 search and rescue teams, including more than 2,000 troops and personnel, along with over 160 dogs, according to Gianluca Rampolla, the United Nations coordinator in Venezuela. Rampolla stated that the United Nations will provide 10,000 body bags, though it hopes the final toll will be lower. The US military repaired and reopened the Port of La Guaira on Monday, where an AFP correspondent saw a warehouse storing hundreds of unidentified bodies in white and black body bags, as well as a few coffins. The USS Fort Lauderdale was docked and delivering aid. US airmen are also helping restore traffic at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, which was heavily damaged.
Government Response and Public Anger
The government has militarized La Guaira and imposed a permit requirement to enter the disaster zone. Residents express anger over the government's slow and limited aid in a country already mired in a deep crisis that has driven millions to emigrate in recent years. A new 4.6-magnitude tremor on Monday rekindled fear among the population.
At the Caracas cemetery, many are still waiting for the remains of their loved ones. Wilker Molalla waited to identify remains, saying, “My family is there — I’m told my sister and her children are there, as well as the children of my brother. There were 11 people in my household; only two of us survived because we were at work.”
Economic Impact and Political Tensions
The United Nations said that approximately seven million people in Venezuela will be affected by the disaster, with the quakes knocking a $6.7-billion hole in the economy, or six percent of Venezuela’s GDP. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who staged a dramatic escape from Venezuela in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, accused the government of blocking her return. “I am ready and close to Venezuela and will do whatever it takes for us to meet there,” Machado said in a video on X, after denouncing what she said was the government’s closure of airspace to prevent her return. The government of interim president Delcy Rodriguez has not commented, nor has Washington, which is coordinating operations on the ground.
