{"id":4885,"date":"2026-07-01T18:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/01\/untold-casualties-and-humanitarian-needs-what-to-know-a-week-from-venezuelas-quakes\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T18:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:35:01","slug":"untold-casualties-and-humanitarian-needs-what-to-know-a-week-from-venezuelas-quakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4885","title":{"rendered":"Untold casualties and humanitarian needs: What to know a week from Venezuela’s quakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n The Americas<\/a>
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Untold casualties and humanitarian needs: What to know a week from Venezuela’s quakes<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

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\n Fatima Al-Kassab
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\"Residents<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n Residents on Tuesday search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in the June 24 earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela.
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\n Ariana Cubillos\/AP
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\n Ariana Cubillos\/AP
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It’s been a week since Venezuela’s worst earthquake disaster in over a century. Thousands of people are feared dead, with the official death toll continuing to rise as hope fades of finding survivors in the rubble.<\/p>\n

The South American country now faces a humanitarian catastrophe \u2014 on top of the deep crises it was already dealing with before the quakes.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at some of the major developments since the evening when tragedy struck.<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\udfa7 Listen to\u00a0<\/em>NPR’s State of the World podcast<\/strong><\/a>, a human perspective on global stories in just a few minutes, every weekday.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A soaring toll from Venezuela’s double quakes<\/h3>\n

Venezuela’s rare double earthquakes happened within seconds<\/a> of each other on June 24 at 6:04 p.m., measuring a magnitude 7.2 and 7.5. Their epicenters were in Yaracuy state west of the capital of Caracas, and they were felt across Venezuela and even parts of neighboring countries. Venezuelan authorities say the hardest-hit area was La Guaira state.<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday, the number of people killed by the earthquakes had risen to 1,943 people, and more than 10,000 injured, according to Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, Venezuela’s National Assembly president. But tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for.<\/p>\n

The death toll “will unavoidably and sadly keep on growing as the search-and-rescue operation continues, and as we are able to detail further assessment of the impacts of the quakes,” Gianluca Rampolla, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Venezuela, said in a briefing<\/a> on Monday. <\/p>\n

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\n A rescue dog from the Argentine search and rescue team searches for bodies in the rubble of a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on June 28, following twin earthquakes on June 24. Thousands of rescuers, relatives and volunteers dig day and night through mounds of concrete to find people.
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Rampolla said the U.N. agreed with Venezuela’s government to procure 10,000 body bags, adding, “we truly hope that actually the number is going to be smaller than that.”<\/p>\n

In addition to casualties, the sheer number of people left homeless could be staggering. A NASA analysis<\/a> of satellite data estimated 58,870 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed by the earthquakes. <\/p>\n

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Up to 6.8 million people could be affected by the disaster, requiring shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and other relief items, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Residents take rescue efforts into their own hands<\/h3>\n

Public anger has grown at the response from Venezuela’s U.S.-backed government, which critics say has been slow and inadequate. Many people in the disaster zones have had to fend for themselves to recover the dead. Residents are digging with their own hands to search for loved ones in the rubble. <\/p>\n

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Venezuela’s deadly quakes put its U.S.-backed government to the test<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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In one of the worst-hit parts of the country, Los Corales, in the coastal state of La Guaira, neighborhood volunteers have been pulling corpses out of collapsed buildings, as John Otis reported for NPR. Lacking body bags, they’ve resorted to using garbage bags and plastic sheets.<\/p>\n

One of the residents, Rosalia Bustamante, told NPR<\/a> government delays in getting rescue equipment to devastated areas have cost lives. She lost several friends who were inside a 12-story building that collapsed during the quakes.<\/p>\n

“There were people in the ruins responding when we called out to them,” Bustamante said. “But now, they are dead.”<\/p>\n

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\n A U.S. Marines helicopter flies by a quake-hit area in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, Tuesday.
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Police and army troops have been slow to arrive. And when they get there, they’ve set up roadblocks and demanded government permits from doctors and rescue workers trying to access, residents say.<\/p>\n

Construction worker Julio Mel\u00e9ndez tried to bring a jackhammer into a disaster zone to help break up debris and look for survivors. He told NPR<\/a> the process took two days because police wanted to see his permit as well as the sales receipt for the jackhammer.<\/p>\n

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As Venezuelans struggle to find earthquake survivors, many blame the government<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“The only thing the authorities do is get in the way,” Mel\u00e9ndez said.<\/p>\n

As the critical 72-hour window for finding survivors passed, there have continued to be some miraculous rescues. Six days after the quakes hit, a 3-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble in La Guaira. Interim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez wrote on the Telegram messaging app<\/a> that the rescue of the child, named Klieber Mor\u00e1n, was “a source of hope for our people.”<\/p>\n

“The heroism of the people and the solidarity is outstanding, and this somehow mitigates, a little bit obviously, the pain and the needs of the people affected on the ground,” the U.N.’s Rampolla said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Venezuelans deported from the U.S. were killed hours later in powerful quakes<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Stories are also emerging of the people who were lost. They include Venezuelans deported<\/a> by the United States hours before the quakes, who died when the hotel they were being processed in collapsed, as NPR’s Sergio Mart\u00ednez-Beltr\u00e1n reported. There were 146 deportees on the flight from the U.S. but it is unclear if any survived. <\/p>\n

Alonso Guanipa Toyo told NPR his brother, 32-year-old V\u00edctor, is among the missing deportees. “The government is not doing anything,” Alonso Guanipa Toyo said. “My family is looking for him in the hospitals, in the shelters, in the morgues.”<\/p>\n

The humanitarian crisis deepens<\/h3>\n

Thousands of people are now living on sidewalks, parks or soccer fields. Residents of a mid-rise building in Caracas told NPR they were afraid to go back into their building after it swayed violently in the quakes, as NPR’s Eyder Peralta reported. <\/p>\n

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‘One chaos after another’: Thousands left homeless after Venezuelan earthquakes<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“How are we going to live in a place that’s about to crack open?” Mirna Castillo told NPR<\/a> from a tent camp in a park she is now sleeping in with her children. <\/p>\n

She said the government had offered her no help, shelter or direction. “It’s just one chaos after another,” she said.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan government said it will open large camps to house people who have been left homeless. Acting President Rodr\u00edguez said on state television<\/a> that a presidential commission was assessing the state of housing and infrastructure damaged by the quakes. She also said work would begin to build new homes, “in a very short time.”<\/p>\n

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\n People reach out to receive supplies from volunteers on Tuesday, days after double earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela.
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Venezuela’s healthcare system, which was already struggling<\/a> because of years of underinvestment, is now at breaking point.<\/p>\n

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From 2020: Many Venezuelan Hospitals Lack Basics To Function, Let Alone Handle COVID-19<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Karol Bassim, senior program manager with the International Medical Corps’ emergency response unit, told NPR<\/a> the majority of people in the hardest-hit areas were now “without food, drinking water, shelter or access to basic healthcare.”<\/p>\n

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An emergency response expert explains the situation in Venezuela after 2 earthquakes<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“Hospitals are overwhelmed. Some are operating far beyond capacity. Health workers are definitely exhausted,” Bassim said.<\/p>\n

The U.N. is now warning<\/a> about the spread of infectious diseases. Many hospitals have been damaged and doctors are missing.<\/p>\n

Countries around the world send assistance<\/h3>\n

International governments and relief organizations have offered support for the beleaguered country’s emergency response and recovery.<\/p>\n

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U.S. pledges generous earthquake relief to Venezuela<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Washington’s role in Venezuela after seizing its leader, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, raised expectations about what the U.S. response might be. Maduro was replaced by his vice president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez. Even as the Trump administration has continued to work with the government led by Rodr\u00edguez, she has kept many of Maduro’s officials in office.<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. firefighters from Fairfax County, Va., pull a survivor from the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Sunday.
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Following the earthquakes, the U.S. announced what appeared to be one of its strongest responses<\/a> to a natural disaster since dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, as NPR’s Fatma Tanis reported. It includes sending search and rescue teams and military assets to help with logistics, as well as committing $150 million to charities and U.N. agencies. <\/p>\n

Several countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia have also pledged support. The European Union said<\/u><\/a> it was sending more than $5 million in humanitarian aid and sending hundreds of responders from member countries to support Venezuelan teams on the ground. The EU activated its Copernicus satellite imagery service to help rescue teams on the ground. <\/p>\n

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‘If you are alive, make any noise’: Venezuela searches rubble on Day 4<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The United Kingdom sent specialist search and rescue teams, and announced<\/u><\/a> more than $2 million in humanitarian funding.<\/p>\n

Brazil<\/a>, Chile<\/a>, China<\/a>, India<\/a>, Japan<\/a>, Turkey<\/a> and other countries also pledged support or sent emergency crews.<\/p>\n

Nongovernmental organizations including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Caritas network of Catholic organizations are helping out as well, The Associated Press reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The task ahead is enormous.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9sar Jim\u00e9nez, from the aid group Project Hope in Venezuela, which is supporting local healthcare systems, told NPR<\/u><\/a> the situation was dire. Healthcare facilities in the affected areas have collapsed.<\/p>\n

“We are doing our best as Venezuelans to support our people,” Jim\u00e9nez said. “This is a unique moment in our history. Nobody saw this coming, and we need a lot of support.”<\/p>\n

Fatima Al-Kassab reported from Campinas,<\/em> Brazil. Eyder Peralta, John Otis and Fernando Narro reported in Venezuela. Sergio Mart\u00ednez-Beltr\u00e1n, Fatma Tanis, Manuel Rueda and Mar\u00eda Graterol also contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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