Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 589 as authorities race to rescue survivors

LA GUAIRA/CARACAS: The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela this week has risen to 589, while 2,980 people have been injured, interim President Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday.

Rescue teams continued searching for survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings as authorities assessed the full scale of the devastation.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck about 160 kilometres west of Caracas on Wednesday evening, followed less than a minute later by a stronger 7.5-magnitude tremor, the most powerful recorded in Venezuela since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said medical centres had received 235 bodies by late Thursday but did not provide an overall casualty count. Authorities warned the toll was likely to rise as rescue workers searched damaged buildings and aftershocks continued to shake affected areas.

The twin quakes battered Caracas and nearby coastal regions, damaging homes, hospitals and public buildings in a country already struggling with years of economic hardship and fragile infrastructure.

Jorge Rodriguez, head of the National Assembly and brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, said around 200 people remained trapped while about 250 buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

At least eight hospitals, the headquarters of the Venezuelan Red Cross and the French embassy sustained significant damage, while Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said around 70,000 families in La Guaira state had been affected.

La Guaira, home to Venezuela’s main international airport, was among the hardest-hit areas.

“It has become a disaster zone,” acting President Rodriguez said, adding that authorities were working with private companies to deploy heavy machinery and speed up rescue operations.

The airport remained closed after suffering structural damage, while electricity and communications were disrupted across parts of the coastal state.

Emergency workers and volunteers searched through collapsed buildings overnight, though residents in some areas said official assistance had been slow to arrive.

Yamileth Jimenez, a resident of La Guaira city, said her 19-year-old son remained trapped beneath the rubble of their seven-storey apartment building.

“He’s under the slabs and there’s no machinery to get him out,” she said.

In Moron, near the epicentre in Carabobo state, collapsed homes left many residents without water or electricity. Families salvaged belongings from damaged buildings as they awaited government shelters.

The USGS estimated the eventual death toll could reach the thousands, with modelling indicating a significant probability that fatalities could exceed 10,000.

A crowd-sourced website shared by opposition leaders listed more than 46,000 people as unaccounted for on Thursday evening. Reuters could not independently verify the figures.

Countries around the world pledged assistance, including the United States, which eased sanctions to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was “ready, willing and able to help,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said rescue teams would be deployed and the Pentagon would provide logistical support, including assistance at Caracas airport.

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the international body was coordinating global rescue efforts, warning that “a massive collective effort” would be required in a country where around eight million people already needed humanitarian assistance before the disaster.

Despite the devastation, foreign energy companies said Venezuela’s key oil infrastructure had escaped major damage, allowing production to continue largely uninterrupted.