Overview
- Powerful, sequential tremors in recent days collapsed buildings along Venezuela’s northern coast and left the government reporting 1,719 dead while a USGS model warns actual fatalities could be far higher.
- Authorities and survivors say parts of a La Guaira hotel that housed 146 people returned from a U.S. deportation flight have fallen in the quake, and more than 100 of those deported are now reported missing.
- Search-and-rescue work is hampered by repeated aftershocks, damaged roads, downed power and phone lines, and overwhelmed hospitals, forcing civilians to carry out improvised recoveries with rudimentary tools.
- Venezuela’s aviation authority issued a June 29 NOTAM requiring prior approvals for non-commercial and humanitarian flights, which has limited the entry of independent rescue teams and privately donated aid.
- Rare rescue successes, including special forces pulling a newborn alive from rubble, contrast with growing tensions between volunteers and officials and mounting challenges in body recovery and identification for grieving families.