Since the earthquakes on June 24, officials have confirmed at least 1,430 deaths, and tens of thousands of people are still missing, according to BBC; the first quake was followed by a second within 39 seconds, causing hundreds of buildings to collapse across northern Venezuela.

Rescue Efforts and Survivors

Two 11-year-old boys were among the few rescued in the aftermath, with one boy named Moises having been buried under about 3 meters (9.8 feet) of debris. The rescue team spent six hours conducting “high-precision work” on Saturday to reach him, according to Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), a rescuer was overheard on a walkie-talkie saying the boy was found near his sister and mother, who had both died, according to Reuters.

Hours later, Delcy Rodríguez posted a video on X purportedly showing the rescue of the second boy in the town of Caraballeda. “In these hours, every life is hope for Venezuela,” she wrote, according to BBC.

Challenges in Rescue and Recovery

Rescuers’ efforts have been hampered by aftershocks, which are in turn terrifying residents. To be honest, it makes you feel kind of nervous. Any little noise… horrible,” Jesús Andueza, a 64-year-old bus driver told BBC Mundo. Thousands of people are living in their cars or camping at places like the airport and golf course, away from buildings that could collapse.

According to Atalayar, the twin earthquakes have laid bare the inability of the Venezuelan government to provide basic services. In the devastated areas, there is no presence of the Venezuelan state,neither at the federal level, nor at the state level, nor even in the municipalities firmly controlled by Chavismo. Those digging through the rubble, those tending to the wounded, and those rescuing those trapped are volunteers, neighbors, and a few local police officers left to fend for themselves.

Impact and Response

The epicenter was in Yaracuy, but the destructive wave struck the coastal state of La Guaira,declared a “disaster zone”—as well as Caracas, Carabobo, and Aragua, where entire buildings collapsed onto families gathered together on a holiday. It is estimated that tens of thousands are missing. And I fear this may be nothing more than a pale shadow of what the estimates from the most reputable agencies suggest, according to Atalayar.