Venezuela twin earthquakes: death toll rises above 1,700

Venezuelan authorities have raised the death toll to more than1,700 deaths from the twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that struck the country’s coastal region last Wednesday, according to the latest official report released on Sunday.

The president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, also reported that the earthquakes left 5,034 people injured, while 15,866 remain displaced and another 22,619 are receiving care in health centres. The most worrying figure, however, comes from the United Nations, which estimates that there could be up to 68,000 people missing.

The state of La Guaira has suffered the worst casualties and destruction, prompting the government to declare a disaster zone and place the region under military control

Five days after the quake, search and rescue operations are still under way, with more machinery being deployed and international rescuers arriving, although hopes of finding more people alive beneath the rubble are fading.

One example of that race against time played out this Monday in Catia La Mar, where teams from El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela were working to rescue a 21-year-old man trapped in a collapsed building since the day of the earthquake.

The twin earthquakes struck on 24 June, with their epicentres between San Felipe and Yumare in the north of the country. The first tremor, of magnitude 7.2, was recorded at 18:04 local time, and 39 seconds later, a second 7.5-magnitude quake hit, with its epicentre farther to the southeast. In all, the ground shook for nearly three minutes.

The aftershocks are still rumbling through the disaster zone, as a 4.6-magnitude earthquake has been recorded in the northern state of La Guaira.