The death toll from Venezuela's devastating twin earthquakes has climbed to 2,954, ten days after two powerful tremors struck the country's northern coast within 38 seconds of each other on June 24. Official figures released on Saturday showed an increase of more than 300 fatalities in a single day, with 16,592 people reported injured and more than 16,000 left homeless. The United Nations estimates that as many as 50,000 people remain unaccounted for, though the Venezuelan government has not published its own missing-persons figures. A preliminary NASA analysis suggests that nearly 59,000 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed.

The hardest-hit area is La Guaira, a coastal state roughly 40 kilometres north of the capital Caracas, where entire residential complexes were reduced to rubble. The twin shocks — measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, the most powerful in Venezuela this century — struck a region where steep mountain slopes descend sharply to a narrow coastal strip, channelling landslides and debris directly through densely populated areas. Caracas was also affected, with at least three buildings collapsing in the affluent Chacao district; local authorities reported at least 62 deaths and 28 people rescued alive there. The Maiquetía international airport, which serves Caracas and is located in La Guaira, sustained damage and remains closed to commercial flights, though it has partially reopened for humanitarian operations.

International rescue teams — drawn from 27 countries and including units from the United States, Portugal, and several South American nations — are beginning to stand down after days of intensive searches. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez held a ceremony to award medals to departing international teams, including their search dogs, in what observers read as a signal that the active rescue phase is drawing to a close. The critical 72-hour survival window has long passed, though a handful of survivors were pulled from the wreckage earlier this week, including a security guard found alive in a building basement eight days after the quakes. Nearly 30,000 Venezuelan officials and 3,281 international rescue workers have been deployed in total, according to Jorge Rodríguez, head of Venezuela's National Assembly.

More than 800 aftershocks have been recorded since June 24, the vast majority below magnitude 4 and unfelt by residents. Geologists warn, however, that the ongoing seismic activity could destabilise already weakened slopes for months or even years, raising the risk of further landslides. The US Geological Survey has issued alerts for areas near rivers and large water bodies, cautioning that debris flows remain a long-term threat.

The disaster has compounded a severe pre-existing humanitarian crisis: before the earthquakes struck, the UN estimated that nearly eight million Venezuelans already required some form of humanitarian assistance. The quakes have caused an estimated $6.7 billion in physical damage, equivalent to six percent of the country's GDP. The UN World Food Programme has appealed for $50 million from the international community to assist around 500,000 people over the next three months. Many Venezuelans have criticised the government's initial response as slow, saying families were left to dig out relatives themselves in the first critical hours. Rodríguez has defended her administration's handling of the disaster, while accusing, without providing evidence, unspecified "media laboratories" of attempting to obstruct emergency operations.