Venezuela's Twin Quakes Kill 3,535; Economic Toll Mounts

The death toll from Venezuela's twin earthquakes has climbed to 3,535, the government said Monday. Another 16,740 people were injured in the June 24 shocks that hit La Guaira state north of Caracas.

The United Nations estimates as many as 50,000 people may remain missing under the rubble. More than 17,000 are homeless. Many survivors are living in temporary camps on streets, in public parks or in car parks.

International rescue teams have started leaving as the mission shifts from pulling survivors to burying the dead and clearing debris. Families continue to search for relatives to give them a proper burial. On Sunday authorities began burying unidentified victims in a mass grave at La Esperanza cemetery in La Guaira. A row of white crosses marked individual graves, each with the same death date: June 24, 2025.

The disaster compounds Venezuela's existing economic collapse. Oil infrastructure in the coastal region – home to the country's main port and the José oil terminal – could face further disruption, though the government has not released damage estimates. Any prolonged outage at the El Palito refinery, which was initially halted after the quakes, would tighten domestic fuel supply and reduce what little export capacity remains.