Natural Disasters

Seven days after the magnitude-7.2 and 7.5 tremors, official counts put the confirmed dead in the high-1,700s, with some tallies near 1,943 and tens of thousands displaced. A magnitude-4.6 aftershock on 29 June sent residents back outdoors as foreign rescue teams worked collapse zones and aid reached weakened institutions.

Earthquakes measuring about 7.2 and 7.5 struck near Yaracuy on 24 June, the strongest pair in more than a century. Venezuelan officials say confirmed deaths keep rising past 1,450, with thousands injured and tens of thousands still unaccounted for, while foreign governments deploy rescue teams into a country already deep in economic collapse.