Venezuela 11 days after double quake: international teams withdraw, relatives dig rubble alone

International search and rescue teams have withdrawn from Venezuela. Relatives continue to dig for their dead on their own.

7/6/2026 | 9:16 AM

La Guaira, Venezuela: Helen Guedez points to the remains of the house under which her father and brother are buried. Photo: Hildegard Willer

From Caracas and La Guaira

By Hildegard Willer

Venezuelans love their high-rise buildings so much that they give them names instead of numbers: Los Rosales, Coral Park, Mar y Cielo, Maribel. Names that sound like a Venezuelan telenovela. On June 24, these architectural dreams became mass graves.

Ronaldo Silva had secretly wondered whether his high-rise building "Duma" would survive an earthquake. The 28-year-old architect knew that in his neighborhood of Los Palos Grandes, several high-rises had collapsed during an earthquake 59 years ago, precisely because a tectonic fault runs there.

Nevertheless, the two earthquakes on June 24 that occurred in quick succession caught Ronaldo off guard. Books, the television, and dishes fell to the floor.

"I ran into the hallway and clung to the column next to the elevator," he says 10 days later. "I knew I wouldn't make it down from the 9th floor in time anyway, and if the building collapsed, I'd have a better chance of being rescued if I stayed on my floor."

More Than 3,300 Dead

Following the devastating double earthquake in Venezuela, the death toll has risen to more than 3,300. At least 3,342 people were killed in the disaster on June 24, the Venezuelan government announced on Sunday. Additionally, more than 16,700 people were injured.

The government did not provide any information on the number of people still missing. The authorities in the South American country have so far avoided commenting on this. According to UN estimates, the number of missing could be as high as 50,000.

According to the non-governmental website venezuelareporta.org, where people search for relatives and friends, over 41,000 people are still considered missing. Only 6,148 of those originally registered there have since been found.

Thankfully, it didn't come to that. The "Duma" high-rise survived its second earthquake as well. Not so the "Petunia" high-rise in the same neighborhood. The seismic waves caused it to collapse like a house of cards. 35 people were buried in the rubble of Petunia; 28 survived.

Help Instead of Mourning

Ronaldo Silva got off with a fright and is now helping earthquake victims. Together with his friends Osdalis and Albany, he asks for donations from his circle of friends and acquaintances and buys food, medicine, and hygiene products. An acquaintance at the hospital tells them what is needed.

"It helps you cope emotionally with the disaster if you can do something," says Albany, 29, also an architect.

The willingness of Venezuelans to help after the earthquake is visible everywhere. Luis, a tall man around 50 with a blond beard, has been clearing the rubble of the Petunia high-rise for 10 days. His son lived in the building across the street.

"I haven't been able to cry yet, only when I'm riding my motorcycle do tears come out of nowhere."

Edwin Goitia is 68 years old and comes to Los Palos Grandes every day to clear rubble.

"I'm a rescue worker, I can't do otherwise."

Other volunteers provide food and water to the people who are now homeless.

The earthquake caused several high-rise buildings to collapse in the capital Caracas and left many uninhabitable. But the full extent of the earthquake only becomes visible in La Guaira.

Like in a War

La Guaira is the port of Caracas, right next to it lies the international airport Maiquetía. A four-lane highway leads from Caracas down to the coast in 40 minutes. Small, self-built houses cling to the hills, some painted colorfully, others in a state of perpetual construction. This is where the poor of Venezuela live in the "barrios." Their little houses, although hastily self-built, cling to the rocks and have suffered hardly any damage.