{"id":511175,"date":"2026-06-25T23:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/511175\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:00:08","slug":"economic-losses-mount-as-venezuela-earthquake-death-toll-grows-earthquakes-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/511175\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic losses mount as Venezuela earthquake death toll grows | Earthquakes News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The series of powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday<\/a> could cause economic losses equal to as much as 7 percent of the country\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP), according to preliminary estimates from the United States Geological Survey.<\/p>\n

Initial assessments released on Thursday estimate that the damage could amount to between 1 and 7 percent of Venezuela\u2019s $111bn GDP after twin earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck about 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of the capital, Caracas, on Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least 188 dead.<\/p>\n

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Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has said that there will be a $200m fund from the International Monetary Fund that will be used to help rebuild infrastructure, hospitals and housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSignificant reconstruction will likely be necessary, and this will likely require foreign support, including from the US, regional actors, and international financial institutions. The government appears to have moved quickly to announce a reconstruction fund with support from the IMF [International Monetary Fund],\u201d Rachel Ziemba, economist and senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther adjustments to the sanctions regime may be necessary to facilitate remittances, capital flows, and greater flexibility for imported material.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US is sending resources to assess the damage and provide aid. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has deployed rescue operations, and it should have a better understanding of what is needed in the next 48 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have a whole government response,\u201d Rubio said on Thursday to reporters in Bahrain amid logistical challenges as Simon Bolivar international airport, the country\u2019s main airport, remains closed.<\/p>\n

Experts are watching closely how the US response will impact diplomatic ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this could be an opportunity, perhaps a catalyst, to compel or propel the relationship to develop in a positive economic direction,\u201d John Deal, managing director of capital markets at the Post Oak Group investment bank, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration has been very interested in securing oil and gas assets, and it doesn\u2019t appear that Venezuela\u2019s oil infrastructure was significantly damaged. Meanwhile, the country has sustained massive damage in the most psychologically sensitive location in Venezuela: its capital city,\u201d Deal said.<\/p>\n

The United Nations has also \u201cfully mobilised\u201d humanitarian efforts, the group\u2019s humanitarian chief said, and Switzerland has sent 18 tonnes of rescue equipment to help elevate pressure on local authorities. Al Jazeera\u2019s Noris Soto reported from Caracas that private companies have been asked to help remove rubble.<\/p>\n

The challenges for aid come amid<\/a> an already sensitive economic situation. Of the country\u2019s 31.7 million people, more than 20 million were already living in poverty with insufficient access to food and medicine, and many hospitals lack even reliable running water or power supplies.<\/p>\n

At Caracas\u2019s Hospital de Clinicas, staff were asked to double up on the night \u2060shift to help treat the injured, a worker there said. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the week as authorities began to take stock of the damage.<\/p>\n

The destruction comes on top of existing challenges to both the country\u2019s healthcare and housing infrastructure. Healthcare data from Venezuela is limited. The government has not published any epidemiological bulletins since 2016.<\/p>\n

Roughly 10 percent of the country\u2019s population pre-quake had been living in vulnerable situations because of inadequate housing, according to the National Survey of Living Conditions report published by researchers at Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas as of 2023. The home-buying market has been frozen amid heightened inflationary pressures as purchasing power has dropped.<\/p>\n

Oil impacts<\/p>\n

The quakes had a limited impact on the country\u2019s oil and gas sector, which typically produces 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil. The El Palito refinery in central Carabobo state near the epicentre did not sustain damage, according to preliminary reports shared with the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at the Moron Petrochemical Complex, the country\u2019s second-largest petrochemical plant, production restarted on Thursday after a brief shutdown. Workers were told not to come as initial assessments found a leak in a storage tank on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if the leak was repaired since the order to reopen, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n

Chevron told Al Jazeera that it remains operational.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a longtime employer and partner in Venezuela, we stand in solidarity with the country and its people during this difficult time. We remain committed to supporting our employees and the communities surrounding our facilities and ensuring the continued safe operation of our assets,\u201d a Chevron spokesperson told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Other companies, including Shell, Eni and Repsol said that all workers are accounted for.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe human toll is likely to be greater than economic, especially if, as it seems, the energy infrastructure does not appear to have been damaged significantly. Most of Venezuela\u2019s revenues come from oil, even if the US sanctions limit the inflow of these funds into the country,\u201d Ziemba, the economist, added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The series of powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday could cause economic losses equal to as much…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2681,13130,184,42,2128,16632,43,16755,40,38,41,39,18413],"class_list":["post-511175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-business-and-economy","tag-earthquakes","tag-economy","tag-headlines","tag-humanitarian-crises","tag-latin-america","tag-news","tag-oil-and-gas","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}