Venezuela Earthquake: 920 Dead, Including 7 Chinese Citizens

The death toll from the devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to at least 920, with more than 4,500 injured and thousands still missing, according to Xinhua News. Among the confirmed dead are seven Chinese citizens, the Chinese Embassy in Venezuela has confirmed.

The Disaster

A magnitude 7.2 foreshock, followed 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock, struck northwestern and central Venezuela on the evening of June 24. The earthquakes, centered near San Felipe in Yaracuy state along the San Sebastián fault system, represent the strongest seismic event in Venezuela since the 1900 San Narciso earthquake. The BBC reported that the second quake was the most powerful to hit the country in more than a century.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez announced the rising death toll on state television, reporting that 172 people remain trapped in rubble and 3,007 have been displaced. The earthquakes have damaged 383 buildings, including 13 hospitals and 25 shopping centers, with more than 1,000 infrastructure sites affected.

Human Toll

Rescue workers are overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. Student Antoan Marín told BBC News Mundo from Caracas: “Rescue workers are overwhelmed. They are pulling people out with their bare hands.” In La Guaira, one of the worst-affected areas, 243 people have been rescued from collapsed buildings.

Among the victims, the Chinese Embassy in Venezuela confirmed that seven Chinese citizens were killed in what it called the “6·24 Earthquake,” as reported by CCTV. Other foreign casualties include five Spanish citizens, two Brazilians, one Portuguese national, one Dominican, and one Italian-Venezuelan.

Personal tragedies have emerged from the wreckage. Venezuelan footballer Héctor Bello shared on Instagram that his wife Andrea died protecting their toddler daughter during the earthquake. Natacha Díaz, a mother in La Guaira, told the BBC she is searching for her two daughters, aged 22 and 23, who worked in a small shopping center that collapsed.

International Response

The disaster has prompted an unprecedented international humanitarian response. According to The Guardian, rescue teams from at least 14 countries have deployed to affected areas, including personnel from the United States, Mexico, Switzerland, Colombia, El Salvador, and the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom dispatched a military flight carrying search and rescue teams, specialist search dogs, and drones, along with £2 million in emergency humanitarian funding. The United States deployed more than 250 personnel, including three special search-and-rescue units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath rubble. US Marine Corps Major General Kevin J. Jarrard has arrived in Caracas to oversee relief efforts.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has declared a state of emergency and designated La Guaira a disaster zone. The government has distributed 2,600 tons of relief grain to nearly 70,000 affected families and deployed the military to control aid distribution.

Challenges Ahead

The earthquakes struck a nation already facing severe humanitarian challenges. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee noted that “even before the earthquakes, millions of people across Venezuela were facing food insecurity, collapsing health services, protection risks, and limited access to basic services.” Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the BBC that the disaster could be “an opportunity for a restart, a reboot between the acting government of Venezuela, the neighbouring countries, the international community and especially the US.”

Venezuela has requested US$200 million from the International Monetary Fund to support relief efforts. China has announced it will provide emergency humanitarian aid, including a rescue team and medical relief, as reported by China News Service.

What to Watch

As search and rescue operations continue, the death toll is expected to rise further. The USGS PAGER system has estimated that up to 100,000 deaths could be possible in a worst-case scenario. The international community’s response will be closely watched as a potential turning point in Venezuela’s relations with Western nations, particularly the United States, amid ongoing political tensions.