The number of deaths from the double earthquake that devastated northern Venezuela on June 24 has reached 6,438, according to the weekly bulletin of the government program “Plan Venezuela Renace,” released this Monday by Jorge Rodríguez, the President of Parliament.
The new figure represents 137 more deaths than the 6,301 recorded in last week's report, which shows that the death toll from the worst seismic disaster in that country's modern history continues to rise nearly two months after the earthquakes.
The two earthquakes —measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude and occurring just 39 seconds apart— had their epicenters near San Felipe in Yaracuy state and Catia La Mar in La Guaira, the coastal area most affected along with Caracas.
Rodríguez, brother of the interim president Delcy Rodríguez, also reported that 86,358 people were treated in hospitals following the earthquakes and that 6,462 people have been rescued since the start of the emergency.
Regarding the housing situation, the authorities evaluated 59,109 homes: 34,680 were classified as habitable, 13,733 with usage restrictions, and 10,696 in "high risk" condition.
The Venezuelan government has thus far provided 335 new homes to those affected, while cleanup crews have removed more than 528,000 tons of debris, which accounts for 25.15% of the estimated total.
The extent of the destruction was reflected in the analysis by the World Bank, which estimated the direct physical damages at 19.6 billion dollars, an amount equivalent to 18% of Venezuela's gross domestic product. The organization warned that a slow reconstruction could hinder the country's economic recovery over the next decade.
Forty-seven percent of those damages correspond to homes, 27% to infrastructure, and 26% to non-residential buildings, with La Guaira and the Capital District accounting for approximately half of the total.
The evolution of the official death toll illustrates the difficulty of accessing the hardest-hit areas: from the 164 fatalities initially reported on June 24, the number skyrocketed to over 4,000 in the first three weeks and surpassed 6,000 by early August.
In the early hours of this Tuesday, the affected coastal area recorded another earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0, with its epicenter located 10 kilometers northwest of La Guaira, without any reported casualties or additional damage.
In parallel to the emergency management, the private channel Venevisión announced the celebration of the Telethon "United for Venezuela" on October 17, with the aim of raising funds for the affected communities.
The format has not been organized in the country since the 2000s and will feature special participation from the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela.
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