Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Rises as Rescue Efforts Intensify

More than a day after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, the first U.S. military teams arrived on Friday to coordinate American aid. Relief delegations from Latin America and Europe also reached the country as frantic searches for survivors continued across the disaster zones. The official death toll stands at at least 235, but earlier estimates suggested the real number could be in the thousands. Authorities believe about 50,000 people are missing, and a tracking website has already recorded nearly 50,000 names whose fate remains unknown.

The hardest-hit area is La Guaira state, north of Caracas. Aerial images released in the past day showed widespread destruction, with nearly every building damaged. Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, called the area a disaster zone, and a UN body said more than 100 buildings had collapsed, including a 10-story hotel reduced to rubble. Official figures say 250 buildings nationwide were damaged or destroyed, but that is likely a low estimate. At least eight hospitals also suffered severe damage.

Survivors described terrifying moments. Graciela Mora, known as “Chelita,” who lived on the eighth floor of one of the buildings in La Guaira, was rescued alive and told cameras that when the quake began she held onto a doorway “with all my strength,” so hard that she broke her finger, and stayed there “until the whole floor collapsed.”

Local residents, frustrated by slow rescue efforts and limited municipal capacity, began digging through the rubble themselves, sometimes with bare hands. Families posted missing-person notices and social media appeals for help. Starlink, the internet service owned by Elon Musk, said it would provide free satellite internet to Venezuelans for one month. Several residents described losing everything, while others celebrated rescues, including a child pulled from a collapsed 10-story building and a young man applauded as he was taken away on a stretcher. Venezuela's Jewish community said no Jews were reported among the dead, injured, or missing.