The official death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes last week was 1,450 by Sunday, but over 50,000 people are still missing, and hopes of reaching them alive are fading fast.

The first 72 hours are critical for earthquake rescue efforts before injuries, suffocation and dehydration take their toll, according to rescue experts.

“Critical infrastructure remains severely disrupted, including electricity, water, telecommunications, and transport, with Maiquetía International Airport still closed due to damage. Hospitals continue to operate under mass casualty protocols, and shelters have been established for displaced families,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday.

The two earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, struck just one minute apart last Wednesday (24 June),  near the capital of Caracas.

The quakes affected densely populated and economically important areas, including Caracas, and the states of La Guaira, Carabobo, Miranda, Yaracuy, and Aragua. Almost a third of the buildings in Catia La Mar in La Guaira state, one of the hardest-hit areas assessed so far, were damaged.

Around $6.7 billion in direct physical damage – around 6% of the country’s GDP – has been caused, according to a satellite-based Rapid Digital Assessment (RAPIDA) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

UNDP estimates that 1.7 million structures have been damaged. Meanwhile, UNICEF estimates that 1.8 million people, including 680,000 children, need humanitarian assistance.

Venezuela is situated on the boundary between two of the world’s tectonic plates, the South American and the Caribbean plates. As they slide past each other, these plates can stick, building up resistance that can generate an earthquake.

Image Credits: Vantor.