La Guaira: The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to 920, with 3,360 people injured, as search-and-rescue operations continued on Saturday. Authorities warned that the toll is expected to climb further, with many people still feared trapped beneath collapsed buildings and thousands remaining unaccounted for.
The updated figures were announced by Jorge Rodriguez, the president of the country's National Assembly.
The toll is likely to rise further as search-and-rescue operations continue. Many families say their loved ones are still buried under the rubble.
“Each person saved is a miracle,” Rodriguez said.
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening, just 39 seconds apart, toppled buildings in Caracas and beyond, with hundreds of homes damaged. The number of confirmed dead is expected to increase as frantic search-and-rescue missions continue.
Thousands of Venezuelans left homeless have since poured into parks, plazas and even the shoulders of blocked highways, looking for a place to shelter.
The latest crisis in the nation of roughly 30 million people comes after decades of economic struggle. More than half of the population lives in extreme poverty, and nearly 8 million people were already in need of humanitarian aid before the earthquakes struck.
The International Organization for Migration said that up to 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected by the earthquakes, including around 2 million in Caracas alone. Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross' regional director for the Americas, said “people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes.”
Buildings across northern Venezuela were reduced to skeletons, with furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead.
Desperation deepened on Friday as many families still had not found their missing loved ones, had minimal equipment for rescue efforts, and continued to sleep on the streets.
Venezuelan authorities said on Friday that 861 international volunteers from Mexico, the US, El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia and other countries were working in Venezuela. Many more from other nations are expected to arrive in the coming hours and days. The UN said 1,000 emergency responders in 25 search-and-rescue teams from across the globe were on their way.
India launched Operation Amistad on Friday to provide humanitarian assistance to earthquake-hit Venezuela. Under the mission, India deployed two Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft carrying relief supplies and a 41-member rescue team to assist the ongoing relief and rescue efforts.
The US Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centred near Morón on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometres west of Caracas. The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
(With agency inputs)