Venezuela's twin earthquakes: Unprecedented struggles for survival amid crisis
Venezuela — hit by twin earthquakes on June 24 — is struggling to build itself back up. With official rescues dropping dramatically, the death toll
Venezuela — hit by twin earthquakes on June 24 — is struggling to build itself back up. With official rescues dropping dramatically, the death toll has risen to 1,943 and the number of injured has almost doubled to 10,571, according to latest information. From India sending a field hospital under Operation Amistad and two IAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft with 66 tonnes of aid, to the U.S. deploying 900 personnel, international aid continues to pour into the country. Meanwhile, aid groups warned that Venezuela’s fragile healthcare system is being pushed to its limits nearly a week after two powerful earthquakes, with damaged and understaffed hospitals getting overwhelmed by the injured and infectious diseases flaring in the disaster zone. Among the living, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. United Nations agencies expressed concern about the health effects of thousands of displaced people sleeping for days in the open or in crowded, unsanitary shelters. Venezuelan officials say that more than 15,800 people have been affected by the earthquakes — a figure that reflects the official number of displaced people, U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Carlotta Wolf said. Without access to toilets, showers or soap, displaced Venezuelans have also become increasingly vulnerable to the outbreak of preventable diseases like measles, given the population’s low vaccination rates, Lindmeier said, adding that conditions are ripe for waterborne infections such as dengue, yellow fever and malaria to spread. (Text: AP) These images provided by Vantor show the before and after of the earthquakes that struck on June 24, 2026, in Playa Grande, Venezuela. On the right are buildings as they appeared on June 15, 2026, and on the left are collapsed buildings from the day after the earthquakes, on Thursday, June 25, 2026.
(Satellite image ©2026 Vantor via AP). Among the living, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. United Nations agencies estimated on June 30, 2026, that the earthquake amassed 1.2 million tons of debris of destroyed buildings and belongings. Damaged buildings stand in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, a day after an earthquake and several aftershocks struck the city on Thursday (June 25, 2026). With the window for finding survivors shrinking quickly, Venezuelans combed through the ruins of buildings toppled by last week’s powerful back-to-back earthquakes, and attention turned to the country’s humanitarian crisis, which could persist for years. Patients lie outside a hospital evacuated after it was damaged in an earthquake in Catia La Mar, Venezuela on June 25, 2026. Meanwhile, the number of official rescues has dropped dramatically in the last three days, the government said, from 5,380 people saved in the first two days after the quakes to just four people found alive June 29, 2026, by authorities. Rescue workers gesture for silence as they search for survivors in a building that collapsed after earthquakes struck Caracas, Venezuela, a day earlier on June 25, 2026. The prime window for finding earthquake survivors is typically 48 to 72 hours, but it is possible to survive longer depending on factors such as temperature and access to water or food. People camp in the street the night after the earthquake struck Caracas, Venezuela on June 25, 2026. Without access to toilets, showers or soap, displaced Venezuelans have also become increasingly vulnerable to the outbreak of preventable diseases like measles, given the population’s low vaccination rates, World Health Organisation spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said. U.S Marine Corps military aircraft on the tarmac as U.S. teams are deployed to support relief operations following earthquakes in Venezuela.
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