The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela has climbed to 2,645, according to official reports. These powerful quakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitudes, hit north-central Venezuela on June 24, mere seconds apart, marking the strongest tremors to affect the country in over a century.
The human cost includes more than 12,000 injured, and rescue operations are continuing. While the government has not provided an official number for the missing, unofficial online lists and UN estimates suggest that tens of thousands remain unaccounted for, with some figures as high as 50,000. Many families are frustrated with the pace of recovery efforts for bodies.
The economic impact is substantial, with a new UN-backed assessment estimating $37 billion in direct physical damage, equivalent to about 3.4% of the exposed physical assets in the affected region. This figure includes $24 billion in losses to residential, commercial, industrial, educational, health-care, and government buildings, and $13 billion in damage to infrastructure such as telecommunications ($5 billion), energy ($3.1 billion), and transportation ($2.1 billion). This assessment is considered preliminary, and total economic costs are likely to be much higher as it excludes factors like business interruptions and reconstruction expenses.
