Venezuela’s deadliest natural disaster in years continues to reveal its full toll: the twin earthquakes that rocked the country in late June have now claimed 6,125 lives, according to the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly.
The revised figure comes weeks after the back-to-back quakes — measuring 7.2 and 7.5 — hit on 24 June, toppling nearly 200 buildings and devastating communities in the coastal state of La Guaira, north of Caracas, where the damage was most severe.
Officials had previously reported 5,546 deaths, and the tremors left almost 17,000 people injured.
Rescue teams and volunteers search for bodies amid the rubble of a collapsed building in Caraballeda
Since the earthquakes struck, rescue workers, volunteers and relatives have kept searching through shattered concrete and twisted metal, holding out hope for survivors while recovering bodies from the debris.
Local media said La Guaira Governor José Alejandro Terán reported that about 1,400 people remained unaccounted for in the aftermath.
The government has not confirmed an official number of missing, though some projections have placed the figure as high as 10,000.
Beyond the 190 buildings destroyed, authorities have labelled 6,433 structures as “high-risk” and classified another 9,866 as “restricted housing”, designations meant to signal the danger residents may still face.
Almost 24,000 people across La Guaira and Caracas are now staying in makeshift shelters after losing homes or being forced to evacuate unsafe buildings.
A member of the Civil Protection service stands amid the rubble of a collapsed multi-storey building in Caraballeda
Against that backdrop, Venezuelan lawmakers last week unanimously passed legislation designed to make it easier to rent properties.
The law, intended to assist those displaced by the earthquakes, still requires enactment by interim leader Delcy Rodríguez before it takes effect.
“We are estimating around 400,000 homes that could benefit from this law,” Ms Rodríguez said.
Ms Rodríguez has also pledged to deliver 4,000 homes to earthquake victims by the end of the year, with the Venezuelan government projecting that total will rise above 10,000 in 2027.
