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By Amanda Castro
Associate News Editor
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The confirmed death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes has climbed above 1,900, marking a grim new milestone in a disaster that continues to unfold. The rising toll highlights the urgency of rescue operations now entering their sixth day, with officials warning that the window for finding survivors is rapidly closing.
Tens of thousands of families across La Guaira, Caracas, and other northern regions remain displaced or desperate for news as international teams race to reach anyone still alive beneath the rubble.
NASA’s early satellite analysis suggests nearly 60,000 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed, a scale of devastation that has overwhelmed local responders and fueled public anger over the government’s slow and uneven relief efforts.
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Twin Quakes Deliver Rare and Catastrophic Blow: What to Know
The country was struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, followed just 39 seconds later by a 7.5-magnitude shock—an unusual “doublet” that compounded structural failures across Venezuela’s northern coast. Scientists note that the second quake released roughly three times the energy of the first, creating a cascading collapse of older, vulnerable buildings in Caracas, La Guaira, and surrounding communities.
More than 68,000 people were reported missing within three days of the disaster, a number that continues to fluctuate as communications remain down and entire neighborhoods remain inaccessible. Families have gathered at rubble sites, holding photos of loved ones and begging rescue teams to search specific locations. One mother, Rubmar Carolina Garcia, sifted through her son’s belongings after losing both her 13‑year‑old and her mother—found clinging to each other when their bodies were recovered.
Rescue Teams Race Against Time
American search specialists from Fairfax, Virginia, joined crews digging through pancaked buildings, calling out for survivors and listening for signals—three taps—beneath the debris. In one collapsed structure, rescuers shouted into the ruins as families waited outside, but no sound came back. “It gets more difficult the farther it goes along,” said rescuer Josh Morrison, who emphasized that teams treat every search as if it were the first.
Locals have resorted to shovels, ropes, heavy machinery, and bare hands as they search for missing relatives. Some have confronted state workers they say took selfies at disaster sites instead of helping, blocking equipment from leaving until more support arrived.
NASA Imagery Shows Massive Structural Damage
NASA’s preliminary satellite assessment—based on images taken before and after the June 24 quakes—found approximately 58,870 buildings likely damaged or destroyed across the affected region. The agency cautioned that the analysis is early and not yet corroborated by ground surveys, but the scale aligns with reports of widespread collapse in hospitals, residential towers, and critical infrastructure.
Why the Quakes Were So Destructive
Northern Venezuela sits at the junction of the South American and Caribbean plates, where several major faults—including the Oca‑Ancón, El Pilar, and Boconó systems—intersect.
The quakes ruptured along a key east‑west fault line, producing intense shaking across densely populated coastal cities. Many buildings were constructed before modern seismic standards, leaving them highly vulnerable to the doublet’s force.
The USGS recorded 93 earthquakes worldwide of magnitude 4.5 or stronger between June 19 and 26, a period of heightened seismic activity that included Venezuela’s disaster. Additional quakes struck Japan and California shortly afterward, though scientists currently believe they are unrelated.
Could This Become One of the Decade’s Deadliest Quakes?
With the death toll expected to rise—potentially into the tens of thousands, according to USGS estimates—experts say Venezuela’s disaster may rank among the most lethal earthquakes of the decade.
The deadliest earthquake event of the decade remains the 2023 Turkey–Syria doublet, where back‑to‑back 7.8 and 7.7 shocks killed more than 59,000 people and leveled communities across both countries. Japan’s 2011 Tohoku disaster—measured at 9.0 to 9.1—claimed nearly 20,000 lives, with most fatalities caused by the massive tsunami that followed and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Haiti’s 2010 magnitude‑7.0 quake stands among the century’s most catastrophic, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 160,000 deaths. That same year, Chile endured an 8.8‑magnitude earthquake that triggered a destructive tsunami and killed 525 people, a toll kept far lower thanks to stringent building standards and extensive seismic monitoring.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kate Nalepinski and Gray R. Thomas
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