(LA GUAIRA) – The death toll from this week’s powerful earthquakes in northern Venezuela has climbed to 920, with more than 50,000 people still listed as missing.
The Venezuelan government confirmed the latest figures as search and rescue teams from several countries continued working through the rubble for a fourth day. Officials said 172 people remain trapped under collapsed buildings, while 3,360 others have been injured.
Hospital buildings have been destroyed, forcing medical staff to treat patients in makeshift tent facilities.
The two earthquakes struck on 25 June during a national holiday when many people were at home. The first tremor had a magnitude of 7.2. A second, stronger quake of 7.5 followed less than a minute later. The epicentre was located about 20 kilometres from the capital Caracas, near the city of Morón, at a shallow depth of roughly 10 kilometres.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said at least 200 aftershocks have been recorded since the initial quakes. More than one thousand infrastructure sites have been damaged or destroyed. On Friday, another tremor of 4.9 magnitude was felt in Caracas and nearby Maracay.
The United States has moved to send search and rescue teams, medical supplies and humanitarian aid. Former President Donald Trump called the loss of life devastating and said all federal agencies had been ordered to prepare assistance.
Ukraine has also offered to send first responders to join rescue operations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was in contact with Venezuelan and European officials and awaiting a response to its proposal.
The disaster has placed political pressure on Acting President Rodríguez, who previously served as vice president under ousted leader Nicolás Maduro and now seeks to present herself as a figure of political change.