Exactly a week after an unprecedented double earthquake measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale shook northern Venezuela on June 24, the situation in the country remains critical.
As of 6:00 a.m. Bulgarian time, the official number of confirmed deaths reached 2,295 people, Parliament Speaker Rodriguez said. The number of injured exceeds 11,000 people, and unofficial lists of missing persons number over 40,000.
Scale of destruction and humanitarian disaster
According to preliminary NASA satellite data, over 58,000 buildings in the country have been partially or completely destroyed. The worst affected is the coastal state La Guaira, where entire neighborhoods have been leveled. In the capital Caracas and surrounding regions, critical infrastructure is paralyzed:
- Transportation: Caracas's Simón Bolívar International Airport remains temporarily closed to commercial flights due to serious structural damage. Rail transport and the metro in the capital are not functioning.
- Utilities: There are widespread power, water and telecommunications outages in large parts of the seven affected states.
- Risk of epidemics: Humanitarian organizations warn of a looming health crisis in overcrowded temporary shelters due to the lack of clean drinking water and adequate sanitation. Hospitals are on the verge of collapse, experiencing a shortage of doctors, medicines and morgue capacity.
Rescue operations and international support
Although seismologists report a weakening of the intensity of aftershocks (which have so far numbered over 782), the risk of subsequent collapses remains high. Dozens of international search and rescue (USAR) teams from over 30 countries are working on the ground. The United Nations (UN) is already delivering emergency humanitarian supplies, including tents, medical kits and water purification systems, assisting over 100,000 families.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria (MFA) announced that at the moment there is no information about injured Bulgarian citizens in Venezuela. Our compatriots in the country are advised to strictly follow the instructions of local authorities and avoid damaged buildings.