Venezuela earthquake: Death toll nears 1,500 as residents angered at local officials' response

As Venezuela continues to grapple with the destruction two earthquakes have left behind in the past couple of days, another earthquake of magnitude 5.6 hit the South American country in the early hours of Sunday.

The twin earthquakes that occurred in quick succession have resulted in the death of around 1,500 individuals.

US Department of State's Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, "By bringing international disaster response programs under the State Department, the US government is able to respond more rapidly and more effectively to disasters. After the earthquakes in Venezuela, the U.S. immediately mobilized, activating urban search and rescue teams and the delivery of humanitarian and medical supplies."

Residents complaint of lack of organisation

Venezuelans have been complaining of a lack of organisation in the government's recovery efforts, as mobile and internet outages in several parts of the country made the situation worse.

Facing public outrage at the response by local officials, Venezuela's US-backed interim leader Delcy Rodriguez thanked other countries for the outpouring of aid.

"It's just very chaotic, hot and unorganized," AFP quoted Australian firefighter Craig Demeillon, 43, as saying. He travelled alone to La Guaira from Miami to help. "Hopefully there's more people to find."

A Salvadoran rescue worker told the news agency, "At this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God maybe we can find people still alive."

A number of smaller quakes and aftershocks were also reported after the twin quakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitudes, respectively.

Around 1,430 people have died so far while 51,000 remain missing, as per a report by Al Jazeera.

As per authorities, recovering survivors from the heaps of rubble will become increasingly difficult if not done so within the first 72 hours after an earthquake strikes.

As per UNDP, the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June caused significant human suffering and loss of life, while also severely affecting livelihoods, infrastructure, and essential services, ANI reported. This includes a preliminary estimate of $6.7 billion in direct physical damage, equivalent to around 6% of GDP, according to a satellite-based Rapid Digital Assessment (RAPIDA) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). While the economic impact is substantial, the greatest loss is borne by the people and communities.

Newborn rescued

There was joy in the hardest-hit coastal area of La Guaira, north of Caracas, when locals pulled an infant alive out of the wreckage on Friday, some 32 hours after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors.

In one social media video, a man welled up in tears as he held the baby in his arms.

The UN migration agency said it had examined available population and damage data and had determined that "up to 6.76 million people could be affected," and would "require emergency shelter, safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, healthcare, protection support and essential relief items."

With agency inputs