Overview
- A rare doublet of quakes on June 24 — a 7.2 temblor followed 39 seconds later by a 7.5 — flattened large parts of La Guaira and damaged key infrastructure including the Maiquetía airport.
- Officials reported 3,535 dead, about 16,740 injured and roughly 17,800 homeless as recovery teams concentrate on body retrieval and mass burials.
- The United Nations estimates up to 50,000 people may still be unaccounted for and places physical damage at about $6.7 billion, roughly 6% of Venezuela’s GDP.
- International search-and-rescue teams are largely drawing down while UN agencies and foreign medical teams expand aid as shortages of heavy machinery, fuel and runway access hamper relief.
- Public frustration over delays and capacity gaps has grown and the interim government has declared national mourning, created a new disaster unit and called for expanded financing to speed reconstruction.