The number of victims of the Venezuelan earthquake exceeds 1,400 people, as the window of survival narrows

The death toll from the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela has risen to 1,430 people, with searches intensifying for survivors during the remaining hours of survival.

Residents took the task of searching for their missing loved ones into their own hands, noting the scarcity of government rescuers and the fact that thousands of people remained missing.

Relief agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours a “golden window” to recover people buried under the rubble, although this can be extended if they can access food and water.

Oscar Perez hugs his family after reuniting with them three days after the earthquake in La Guaira. (AP Photo/Mathias Delacroix)

According to the Venezuelan government, 172 people were trapped, 3,238 others were injured, and 3,100 were homeless as of Saturday local time.

Thousands of people are known to be missing.

Electricity has been restored in 60 percent of affected areas, and telecommunications is expected to help reunite separated families.

Rescue workers from all over the world were deployed to Venezuela. (AP Photo: Pedro Mattei)

High death toll and cost of damage

Just after 6pm on Wednesday, two successive 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes reduced parts of northern Venezuela to rubble.

The earthquakes, which occurred 39 seconds apart from each other, caused damage estimated at $6.7 billion ($9.7 billion), according to the United Nations.

A building collapsed in La Guaira, a coastal city about 30 kilometers north of Caracas, on Wednesday, local time. (Reuters: Maxwell Briceno)

The second earthquake was the strongest Venezuela has witnessed in more than a century.

The United Nations International Organization for Migration said in a statement that “up to 6.76 million people may be affected,” based on population and damage analysis.

Predictive modeling conducted by the USGS suggests the death toll is likely to rise into the thousands.

Patients lie outside the damaged hospital that had to be evacuated in Catia la Mar. (AP Photo: Pedro Mattei)

More resources are needed

Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said her government was making a full response during “critical hours to save people alive.”

Delcy Rodriguez walks through a neighborhood hit by the earthquakes. (Bulletin / Venezuelan Presidency / Agence France-Presse)

Ms Rodriguez said in an overnight speech on state television that 14,000 military and police personnel were in La Guaira to patrol and take health measures.

Foreign Ministry official Oliver Blanco said that 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue team members had also arrived.

“In the next 24 hours, 25 additional flights are expected to arrive,” Blanco said.

But residents say more resources are urgently needed, criticizing the official response to the disaster.

Lawyer Ricardo Trias, 73, was trying to obtain a death certificate for his godson, Armando Lopez, 54.

Lopez’s body was recovered from the rubble of his building in the coastal town of Caraballeda on Thursday evening, and remained at the site.

“We want them to hand us the body,” Trias said. “We cannot accept it. Here it will rot.”

“No forensic authority came forward.”

In La Guaira, just north of the country’s capital, Nasira Jimenez cried on a family member’s shoulder as she watched neighbors use hammers and power tools to try to cut through concrete slabs in a pile of rubble.

The building was where her brothers, nephews, nieces and friends were at the time of the earthquake.

“We are making an appeal to help the government and countries around the world,” Jimenez said, appealing for machines capable of moving collapsed structures.

“There are still people alive there.” International aid commitments

Venezuelan authorities said on Friday that 861 volunteers from Mexico, the United States, El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia and other countries are in the country, and that more are coming from elsewhere.

The Mexican Army’s search and rescue team joined the rescue efforts. (AP Photo: Mathias Delacorix)

The United States said it would deploy two warships, transport aircraft and helicopters, along with $US150 million ($217 million) in aid, while British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his government had sent £2 million ($3.8 million) in humanitarian aid along with a 68-member search and rescue team, including six specialist search dogs.

Ms. Rodriguez said the government had established a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched an emergency appeal for 50 million Swiss francs ($90 million) to help its operations in Venezuela.

The first 17 metric tons of humanitarian supplies left the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Regional Humanitarian Center in Panama for Venezuela on Friday.

-With wires

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