The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, 2026, continues to rise and has now exceeded 4,000 fatalities. Thousands of people remain missing, while the need for humanitarian assistance and recovery efforts continues to grow amid public services that have already been weakened by a prolonged economic crisis.
According to The Guardian, Jorge Rodriguez, Speaker of Venezuela’s Parliament, announced through his Telegram account that at least 4,118 people have died and 16,740 others have been injured following the two powerful earthquakes that struck in quick succession. The disaster leveled large parts of the coastal state of La Guaira.
The first earthquake, measuring magnitude 7.2, struck just 39 seconds before the second, stronger magnitude 7.5 quake. The twin earthquakes are reported to be the most powerful to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
The powerful tremors caused high-rise apartment buildings across the affected areas to collapse.
Search and Rescue Ends, Families Continue Searching Through the Rubble
Rescue teams have reportedly ended their search for survivors. However, many relatives of the victims remain at the disaster sites, searching for missing family members in the hope of recovering their bodies and providing them with proper burials.
On Friday, a magnitude 3.0 aftershock also shook central Caracas. The tremor briefly sparked panic and prompted the evacuation of several buildings as a precaution.
Amid the crisis, the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday issued an emergency funding appeal for nearly US$300 million (approximately Rp4.86 trillion) to support humanitarian operations for around 1.3 million people in urgent need of assistance across Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimated that direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure had reached approximately US$37 billion (around Rp600 trillion).
Government Calls for Frozen Assets to Be Released
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, has called for Venezuelan assets frozen overseas to be released so they can be used to support post-disaster recovery efforts.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez reportedly urged King Charles III to release approximately 30 tons of Venezuelan gold that had been frozen under UK sanctions.
She also defended the government’s emergency response to the disaster, insisting that Venezuela would not descend into social unrest.
However, many Venezuelans have reportedly criticized the government’s response, arguing that it was inadequate during the critical early days following the earthquakes before international aid began arriving.
At present, mobile community kitchens, field clinics, and emergency hospitals have been established across public spaces in La Guaira, the region that suffered the most severe destruction.
Aid distribution efforts have also faced significant challenges, as non-governmental organizations operating in Venezuela have reportedly been subject to various restrictions that have complicated the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Amid the recovery efforts, heartbreaking stories continue to emerge from survivors. One widely shared account tells of a young mother who reportedly died after saving her toddler daughter from the collapsing rubble. The story quickly went viral on social media, drawing sympathy from people around the world.
The twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela are reported to be one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s modern history.***
