According to The Associated Press, the Venezuelan government reported that the death toll had surpassed 1,700 as emergency crews worked across the hardest-hit areas, particularly in the northern coastal state of La Guaira. Relief organizations note that the first 72 hours following a major earthquake are typically the most critical for locating survivors, although people trapped beneath debris may survive longer if they have access to food and water.

Rescue Operations Continue Amid Growing Humanitarian Needs

As search efforts entered their fifth day, concerns intensified over whether Venezuela’s financially strained government would be able to coordinate the extensive recovery and humanitarian assistance required in the coming months and years.

Authorities said a magnitude 4.6 aftershock struck Monday near the disaster zone, following more than 600 seismic events that officials said had occurred since the twin earthquakes struck the previous Wednesday.

The latest tremor was centered about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, according to the United States Geological Survey. Colombia’s geological agency estimated the earthquake at magnitude 5.1.

Although officials reported no significant new damage, the aftershock prompted residents in Caracas to evacuate buildings as a precaution.

“I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” Caracas resident Concepción Hernández said after leaving her apartment building.

Government Defends Emergency Response

Facing criticism over the pace of rescue and relief efforts, Venezuelan officials highlighted progress made since the disaster.

Jorge Rodríguez said electricity had been restored to approximately 90% of La Guaira and that engineers were continuing inspections of damaged structures that could still collapse.

He also said authorities had established 15 temporary shelters to accommodate displaced residents.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez shared footage on social media showing emergency workers rescuing a survivor after a 43-hour search beneath collapsed buildings.

“Each life saved is a victory for hope,” she wrote.

Despite those successful rescues, many families remained gathered outside damaged buildings, waiting for news of missing relatives.

Ana Rada, whose brother remained missing, said her family continued to hold onto hope despite exhaustion and limited access to food.

International Aid Expands

Dozens of countries have offered humanitarian assistance following the disaster.

A senior U.S. State Department official said approximately 300 American first responders are participating in rescue operations, while two dozen C-17 military transport aircraft are delivering humanitarian supplies to Venezuela each day.

According to the official, U.S. assistance has now exceeded $300 million.

American military personnel are also helping repair damage at the port in La Guaira to improve maritime delivery of relief supplies. Additional teams are assisting air traffic operations after part of the control tower at Simón Bolívar International Airport was damaged in the earthquakes.

The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the operations publicly.

Despite the expanded relief effort, it appeared unlikely that the administration of Donald Trump would extend temporary humanitarian protections to Venezuelan nationals already living in the United States, a measure previously granted after major earthquakes in Haiti and El Salvador.

Volunteer Rescuers Fill Critical Gaps

Among those assisting rescue operations is Jean Sosa, a 31-year-old miner who said he was deported from the United States earlier this year after missing an immigration court hearing.

Sosa said he spent four years living and working in New York before being detained by immigration authorities and eventually returned to Venezuela.

Using mining tools, including a pickaxe and shovel, he joined volunteer rescue efforts in La Guaira, where he said he had helped rescue 20 survivors.

According to Sosa, volunteer rescuers initially operated with minimal equipment before larger emergency teams arrived.

“We’re working without gloves, without equipment, borrowing supplies, improvising bandages and whatever else we can,” he told The Associated Press.

He also expressed frustration over what he believed was a delayed official response, saying additional equipment during the earliest hours might have saved more lives.

Scale of Destruction Still Emerging

Authorities said more than 15,800 people had been directly affected by the disaster, while 855 buildings had either collapsed or suffered significant damage.

However, humanitarian organizations and technical experts believe the actual extent of destruction may be considerably greater.

A preliminary assessment by NASA, using radar imagery collected by the European Space Agency‘s Sentinel-1 satellites, estimated that approximately 58,870 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

The United Nations has warned that as many as 6.8 million people—nearly one-quarter of Venezuela’s population—could experience displacement or disruptions to essential services such as electricity and water.

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan Red Cross said it expects relief operations supporting at least 300,000 people to continue for two years.

Communications outages have also complicated efforts to locate missing individuals. More than 50,000 names have been entered into independent online databases created by non-governmental groups to help families search for loved ones, although officials have not confirmed how many of those individuals remain missing.

Firefighter Kleider Carrillo said the destruction exceeded anything he had encountered during his professional training.

“When you study for this profession, you’re trained for situations like this,” he said. “But what’s in textbooks is one thing. Reality is another.”

Tags: Venezuela, La Guaira, Earthquake, Humanitarian Crisis, Search and Rescue, United Nations, NASA, Venezuelan Red Cross, Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez, Natural Disaster, U.S. Aid

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The Venezuelan government said 1,450 people had died in the earthquakes as of Sunday afternoon, while thousands more remained missing. The disaster has also drawn criticism from residents who say civilian volunteers initially played a larger role in rescue efforts than government responders.

Even as emergency experts acknowledge that the first 48 to 72 hours after a major disaster offer the highest likelihood of finding survivors, rescue workers continued to recover people alive from collapsed buildings, providing hope for families still awaiting news of missing relatives.

International Rescue Operations Expand

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Sunday evening that search operations would continue despite the passing of the critical rescue window.

Government officials said more than 2,600 rescue personnel from multiple countries had arrived in Venezuela, bringing specialized search equipment, heavy machinery, and trained rescue dogs to assist operations in the country’s hardest-hit areas.

“It’s been incredibly hard work, but we’re going strong,” civilian volunteer Jason Mercano said as he described working alongside rescue teams after maintaining communication with relatives trapped beneath the rubble.

“We’ve never given up hope,” he added.

Scale of Destruction Becomes Clearer

Authorities said more than 770 buildings were either partially or completely destroyed, roughly double the number reported damaged or collapsed two days earlier.

The United Nations estimated that up to 6.8 million people could be affected by the earthquakes, which measured magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 when they struck last Wednesday.

Aftershocks continued on Sunday, including earthquakes measuring magnitudes 4.2 and 4.5, raising concerns about additional structural damage and complicating rescue efforts.

Government officials also reported that more than 14,000 military and police personnel had been deployed across La Guaira state, where access remained restricted through a permit system.

Families Continue Search for Missing Loved Ones

Communication difficulties caused by damaged infrastructure have prompted many Venezuelans to rely on independent online databases to report missing relatives.

One such platform had received reports involving more than 50,000 missing people, although it remained unclear how many individuals had since been located.

Scenes across La Guaira reflected both hope and grief as rescue operations continued.

Rescue teams from Venezuela, the United States, and France successfully pulled a man and his son alive from beneath collapsed concrete, drawing applause from nearby crowds before both survivors were transferred to an ambulance for emergency medical treatment.

Elsewhere in the city, Helen Guedez said her family continued trying to rescue her father, Jesús, who remained trapped beneath their collapsed apartment building.

Guedez said rescue personnel from the United States confirmed that her father was still alive but determined the structure was too unstable to enter safely. She said civilian volunteers and local miners had continued attempting to reach him.

“We’re not going to give up,” Guedez said. “The rest of the team is willing to continue. They know there’s another way to get him out and they said they’re going to keep working until the very end.”

Hospitals Face Heavy Demand

Health facilities also continued treating large numbers of injured residents.

At Domingo Luciani Hospital in Caracas, anesthesiologist Leomery Pérez said donations from the public had helped the hospital manage an influx of patients despite longstanding shortages within Venezuela’s public health system.

Authorities said more than 3,100 injured people had received treatment, including many suffering crush injuries.

Disaster Presents Political and Humanitarian Challenge

The earthquake response has become a major test for acting President Rodríguez, who assumed office in January following the removal of former President Nicolás Maduro by the United States, according to the supplied source material.

Researcher Ronal Rodríguez of the Venezuelan Observatory at the University of Rosario said the disaster has compounded existing political and humanitarian challenges facing the country.

Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization for Migration, warned that the disaster could accelerate displacement from Venezuela, where millions of people have already left the country over the past decade.

Rodríguez announced the creation of a special government commission to assess damage to homes and infrastructure while determining whether displaced residents could safely return.

She said authorities would continue searching for survivors as rescue operations moved into a fifth day.

“Today we recovered people who are still alive,” Rodríguez said. “We always maintain hope.”

Tags: Venezuela, La Guaira, Earthquake, Natural Disaster, Search and Rescue, Delcy Rodríguez, United Nations, International Organization for Migration, Humanitarian Crisis, Emergency Response, Caracas, Aftershocks

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A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. The quake, which also impacted neighboring Thailand, left at least 144 people dead in Myanmar and six in Thailand, with officials warning that the toll could rise significantly in the coming days.

The earthquake’s epicenter was near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, where buildings collapsed, bridges crumbled, and aftershocks—including one measuring 6.4 in magnitude—continued to rattle the region. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar’s military government, confirmed that at least 730 people were injured and emphasized that the death toll would likely increase.

Rescue efforts have been hindered by Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, which has severely limited access to affected areas. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated that fatalities could exceed 1,000 as information from remote regions begins to emerge.

The destruction in Mandalay has been severe, with multiple buildings, including one of the city’s largest monasteries, reduced to rubble. Video footage shows Buddhist monks filming the Ma Soe Yane monastery as it suddenly collapsed into the ground. There are no confirmed reports on the number of casualties from the monastery collapse.

In Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, emergency teams have been working to pull survivors from the debris of government housing complexes. Images from the scene depict collapsed buildings, buckled roads, and a makeshift medical camp treating the wounded.

Adding to the crisis, Myanmar’s English-language newspaper, Global New Light of Myanmar, reported that two major bridges had collapsed, including one along a key highway linking Mandalay to Yangon. A dam burst in the affected region, causing floodwaters to rise in low-lying areas, according to reports from Christian Aid workers on the ground.

Myanmar’s government has called for urgent blood donations in the hardest-hit areas. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing stated that Myanmar is willing to accept international aid—an uncommon move for the country’s military-led administration. The United Nations has already allocated $5 million for relief efforts.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in his second term, pledged American support for disaster relief. However, concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of the U.S. response due to previous cuts in foreign aid through USAID and the State Department.

In Thailand, the earthquake caused a dramatic building collapse in Bangkok, leaving at least six people dead, 22 injured, and 101 missing. The 33-story high-rise, still under construction near the bustling Chatuchak market, crumbled into a cloud of dust, sending onlookers into a panic. Video footage showed bystanders screaming and running for safety as steel and concrete fell in heaps.

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit called the collapse a “great tragedy.” Sirens wailed throughout downtown Bangkok as rescue teams rushed to extract survivors from the rubble. Many high-rise buildings in the city swayed violently during the quake, causing widespread fear among residents.

The quake was felt across Thailand’s capital, home to over 17 million people. Voranoot Thirawat, a lawyer working in central Bangkok, described the moment she saw lights swinging and heard the creaking of her office building. “We ran down 12 flights of stairs. I’ve never experienced an earthquake like this in Bangkok.”

Scottish tourist Fraser Morton was inside a shopping mall when the tremors began. “The whole building started shaking, and people started screaming. Some tried to run down the escalators going up,” he recounted. Similarly, English traveler Paul Vincent recalled witnessing a rooftop pool spill over and people crying in the streets as buildings swayed dangerously.

The earthquake’s impact reached China’s Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, where it caused damage and injuries in the city of Ruili near the Myanmar border. Reports indicate that the tremors in Mangshi, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Ruili, were so intense that people struggled to stand.

With roads cracked, bridges down, and a dam burst worsening flooding, aid workers fear it may take weeks to assess the full scale of the destruction. “This disaster has devastated communities already struggling with conflict and displacement,” said Julie Mehigan of Christian Aid.

Myanmar’s ongoing civil war has left more than 3 million people displaced and nearly 20 million in need of humanitarian assistance, making disaster response even more challenging. Many areas affected by the quake are already dangerous or inaccessible due to ongoing fighting between government forces and armed resistance groups.

As rescue and relief efforts continue, both Myanmar and Thailand face a long road to recovery from one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit the region in years.

Source: AP News – Massive quake rocks Myanmar and Thailand. Hundreds feared dead

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A devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday morning, killing at least 126 people and injuring 188 others, according to state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). The quake’s tremors were felt across the Himalayas, reaching Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of northern India.

Epicenter and Impact

The earthquake, recorded at 9:05 a.m. local time, originated at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in Tingri County, high on the Tibetan Plateau near the Nepalese border, about 50 miles north of Mount Everest. The tremors toppled houses, damaged infrastructure, and sent shockwaves through:

• Himalayan villages: Over 3,600 houses were damaged in the sparsely populated region. Approximately 6,900 people live in 27 isolated villages within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius of the epicenter.
• Shigatse, a major Tibetan city with 800,000 residents, felt the quake but reported no major structural damage.
• Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital: Residents rushed outdoors as power lines shook and tremors revived memories of the 2015 earthquake that claimed 9,000 lives.

Aftershocks and Continued Threat

The China Earthquake Networks Center recorded 150 aftershocks by Tuesday evening, with 19 registering magnitudes above 3.0. These aftershocks continue to rattle the affected areas, further complicating rescue and recovery efforts.

Human Stories and Destruction

Residents shared harrowing experiences:

• Pu Chi, 24, from Bainang County (125 miles from the epicenter), described waking to shaking walls and a swaying ceiling light. “I ran outside in fear and called my family,” she said.
• Anna Guo, an 18-year-old tourist, was queuing to visit Mount Everest when the quake struck. “The windows shook violently. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Tremors Across Borders

The earthquake extended its reach into neighboring countries:

• In Nepal, tremors caused panic in the Solukhumbu district near Mount Everest, where residents described “everything shaking.” 13 injured individuals were rescued, and 10 houses were reported damaged.
• At a yak farm near Nepal’s Everest base camp, workers described widespread fear as structures swayed.

Rescue and Relief Efforts

China has mobilized a large-scale rescue operation:

• Military Deployment: Over 200 Chinese soldiers were sent to Tingri County, with 1,500 more on standby.
• Rescue Teams: Footage showed rescuers, including immigration officers, digging through rubble with bare hands in villages where homes had collapsed.
• Supplies Distributed: Thousands of tents, beds, and coats were dispatched to affected areas, where temperatures are expected to plunge below -18°C (-0°F).

Nepali officials and humanitarian organizations have also begun recovery efforts, focusing on aiding injured individuals and assessing structural damages.

Leaders Respond

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an all-out rescue effort, urging officials to prioritize survivors’ safety and warmth in freezing conditions. The Dalai Lama, exiled in India, expressed his condolences, stating, “I am deeply saddened and offer prayers for those who lost their lives.”

Tibetan Context

The earthquake’s devastation highlights the vulnerability of Tibet’s remote and restricted regions. With its sparse population and rugged terrain, access for rescue teams is challenging. Tibet remains a politically sensitive area under Beijing’s tight control, with limited access for foreign visitors.

Mount Everest Base Camp and Tourism

In the aftermath of the quake, local authorities closed the Mount Everest base camp and its surrounding scenic areas. Although winter is not a peak season for climbing, the region remains a tourist hotspot for its breathtaking views.

Outlook

The earthquake has left a trail of destruction across Tibet and neighboring regions. With plummeting temperatures and ongoing aftershocks, rescue teams face immense challenges in providing relief and ensuring the safety of residents. For many, the tragedy serves as a stark reminder of the region’s seismic vulnerability.

Source

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