Two shallow earthquakes, measured at magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck northern Venezuela within 39 seconds of each other on the evening of Wednesday 24 June, levelling apartment blocks and hotels along the Caribbean coast and in the capital, Caracas. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced on Friday that the confirmed death toll had risen to 589, with 2,980 people injured. The coastal state of La Guaira, home to the country’s main international airport, was declared a disaster zone after more than 100 buildings collapsed, and the airport itself was closed because of structural damage.

Medical sources and local authorities report that hospitals in the affected region are overwhelmed, with field clinics being erected to handle the influx of wounded. The health minister had earlier cited 4,300 injured, a figure that remains in circulation alongside the president’s lower tally, and no official explanation has been given for the discrepancy. At least eight hospitals sustained damage, and the Venezuelan Red Cross headquarters was among the structures reported to be badly affected. Foreign governments have confirmed that nationals from Brazil, China, Spain, Portugal and Italy are among the dead, while Madrid said on Friday that four Spaniards had been killed and 99 others could not be located.

The number of missing remains the most uncertain variable. An opposition-linked website tracking disappearances listed more than 50,000 names by Friday morning, but the government has not endorsed that figure; the president of the National Assembly earlier spoke of 157 people officially recorded as missing and about 200 believed trapped under rubble. Rescue operations, now supported by urban search-and-rescue teams from across the Americas and Europe, are being slowed by power outages, severed phone lines and a shortage of heavy machinery. Looting was reported in several commercial premises in La Guaira, where residents complained of delays in the arrival of aid.

The twin tremors, described by seismologists as a rare “doublet” event, were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. The United States Geological Survey has estimated a 44 per cent probability that the final death toll will exceed 10,000. Washington has deployed military transport aircraft and two naval vessels, pledged $150 million in humanitarian assistance, and temporarily eased sanctions to facilitate relief transactions. The United Nations said on Friday that up to 6.76 million people may have been affected, and that the priority remains locating survivors. The provisional nature of all casualty figures is being stressed by both Venezuelan authorities and international agencies.