Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 1,430

Venezuelan officials announced the latest death toll on Saturday, saying they were still counting victims from the disaster. Hundreds of rescue workers remain deployed across the affected areas, where many people are still believed to be trapped under rubble.

The confirmed death toll has climbed to 1,430 and continues to rise by the hundreds, while tens of thousands of people remain missing, Venezuelan officials said. Officials reported that 3,238 people were injured by the earthquakes, while 3,142 families have been left homeless and are being housed in shelters across seven states. More than 5,000 people have received hospital assistance, and 7,500 others have been evaluated through triage systems set up after the disaster, according to officials. The reports have not been independently verified, but they point to the scale of the search effort still underway across the affected region.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the event was a doublet, with a magnitude 7.2 earthquake followed 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake. The earthquakes struck west of Caracas near Montalbán, shaking the capital and causing buildings to collapse in several areas. La Guaira state, north of Caracas, was among the hardest-hit areas.

More than three days after Venezuela was struck by its most powerful earthquake in over a century, hopes of finding survivors are fading. Experts say the first 72 hours are critical for rescues, after which the operation increasingly becomes one of recovering bodies. The UN’s migration agency estimates that nearly seven million people were affected by Wednesday’s twin earthquakes and are in need of shelter, clean water and other essential aid. International rescue teams, including crews from the United States, Mexico, El Salvador and the European Union, have arrived in Venezuela and are working alongside local responders at collapsed buildings and other damaged sites.