Venezuela’s confirmed earthquake death toll has climbed to 1,719, officials said Monday, as a fresh aftershock shook the capital during what rescuers call a critical window for finding survivors still buried beneath collapsed buildings.
Jorge Rodriguez, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said in a televised address that 5,034 people have been injured and 15,866 left homeless following back-to-back magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck roughly 160 kilometers west of Caracas last week.
The US Geological Survey recorded a 4.6-magnitude aftershock on Monday at a depth of 10 kilometers, centered north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, though Rodriguez said there were no immediate reports of additional damage.
The tremor sent residents fleeing back into the streets. “Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” Concepcion Hernandez, 51, told the Associated Press as she evacuated her building in Caracas’s Chacao municipality.
The hardest-hit area remains the northern port city of La Guaira, where entire apartment blocks collapsed and survivors criticized the slow arrival of heavy rescue equipment.
Read More: Death Toll Nears 1,000 as Rescue Efforts Continue After Venezuela Earthquakes
Officials believe tens of thousands of people remain missing, with roughly 30,000 Venezuelan emergency workers and 2,700 foreign experts involved in the search.
The critical 72-hour survival window for trapped victims passed Saturday evening, but a handful of rescues on Sunday kept hopes alive.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said operations would continue: “Today we have recovered people alive and, therefore, operations are not being suspended. We always maintain hope.”
Among the survivors was 21-year-old Aaron Levi, pulled from rubble in La Guaira after spending 106 hours buried, in a joint operation involving Venezuelan, Mexican and Salvadoran teams.
International aid has poured in. Venezuela says 24 countries have sent more than 500 tons of supplies, 2,700 rescue and support personnel, and about 86 search-dog teams.
Read More: UK Sends Rescue Teams, £2 Million to Venezuela After Deadly Twin Earthquakes
Washington has also contributed, announcing $150 million in emergency assistance, easing sanctions to facilitate relief operations, and dispatching military ships and aircraft to support search efforts.
Earlier estimates underscore how fast the toll has grown; a report from June 27 put the death count at around 920, with more than 3,360 injured, while the US Geological Survey warned the final toll could exceed 10,000, which would make it one of the deadliest earthquakes in Latin America’s recent history.
The disaster represents a major test for Venezuela’s government under Delcy Rodriguez, who assumed the presidency after the US military’s abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro in January, as the country now juggles a humanitarian catastrophe with its existing political and economic crisis.
