{"id":517233,"date":"2026-06-29T21:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/517233\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:52:09","slug":"strong-aftershock-terrifies-venezuelans-days-after-devastating-twin-quakes-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/517233\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong aftershock terrifies Venezuelans days after devastating twin quakes | Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

A strong aftershock has rattled northern Venezuela<\/a>, sending terrified residents racing on to the streets five days after the twin earthquakes that killed 1,719 people, left tens of thousands missing and triggered a growing humanitarian emergency.<\/p>\n

The aftershock early on Monday \u2013 which the US Geological Survey measured at a magnitude of 4.6 \u2013 shook the capital, Caracas, and the devastated port city of La Guaira, where rescue crews are still hoping to pull as many survivors as possible from the rubble. Colombia\u2019s geological survey put the aftershock\u2019s magnitude at 5.1.<\/p>\n

Although Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, the leader of the Venezuelan national assembly, said there were no immediate reports of new damage, the trembling earth and sounding of quake sirens brought fresh panic to Caracas and La Guaira.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was asleep when the shaking woke me up. It felt almost as strong as Wednesday\u2019s earthquake, even though I hadn\u2019t felt the other aftershocks,\u201d said Amarelis Mendoza, a resident of El Hatillo in Caracas.<\/p>\n

Aerial photo of built-up area damaged by earthquake.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the hardest-hit areas of the capital \u2013 including Altamira and San Bernardino \u2013 people poured on to the streets from the makeshift shelters where they had been staying. Many have been sleeping outside apartment buildings or in tents pitched along sidewalks, fearing further collapses.<\/p>\n

Several lines of the Caracas metro were shut down again over concerns that additional aftershocks could further damage already weakened infrastructure.<\/p>\n

map of north Venezuela<\/a><\/p>\n

In San Bernardino, search operations at the 22-unit Rita apartment building, which collapsed completely during last week\u2019s earthquake, were suspended for about an hour and a half following Monday\u2019s tremor.<\/p>\n

As the new week began, some businesses across the capital started to reopen. But the number of people seeking refuge in parks and public squares continues to grow as the humanitarian crisis deepens.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of displaced families from Caracas and beyond have been camping out in Parque del Este, a 200-acre park in the east of the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is worth more than anything else,\u201d said 35-year-old Katiuska Asuaje, who fled her home in the La Cruz sector of Bello Campo in Caracas with four children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t going to wait for the house to collapse on top of us because one of the concrete roof slabs had already come loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maryuri P\u00e9rez, 36, and Jaime Blanco, 40, had nowhere to go back to after their shack in west Caracas collapsed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need most is a tent or at least a mattress to sleep on,\u201d said P\u00e9rez. \u201cThank God the neighbours have been bringing us food, but we have nowhere to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aftershock came as local people and Venezuelan and international search teams continued to comb the rubble for survivors of last Wednesday\u2019s back-to-back quakes, which measured magnitude 7.2 and 7.5.<\/p>\n

The rescue of a man and his teenage son who were pulled alive from the rubble in La Guaira state on Sunday<\/a> offered a brief moment of optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we have rescued people who are still alive and therefore these efforts will not be suspended,\u201d said Venezuela\u2019s interim president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n

But the chances of similar rescues are dwindling. A Salvadoran rescue worker, who declined to give his name, told Agence France-Presse: \u201cAt this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God maybe we can find people still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the government, which has been criticised for its slow response and lack of preparation for the disaster<\/a>, 5,034 people were injured and almost 800 buildings were badly damaged when the quakes hit.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of people are still missing well after the closure of the critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped victims following a natural disaster, while millions more lack sanitation and other basic necessities.<\/p>\n

Even as rescue efforts continued, outbreaks of looting hit La Guaira, which is near the country\u2019s main international airport. Much of the city now lies in rubble after last week\u2019s disaster. Pharmacies, supermarkets and other businesses were ransacked, said residents, some of whom complained of the slow and meagre post-quake aid coming from authorities.<\/p>\n

The remains of buildings in El Junquito, Venezuela on Monday. Photograph: Federico Parra\/AFP\/Getty ImagesEl Junquito on Monday. Photograph: Federico Parra\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The authorities have barred international journalists from entering the collapse zones in La Guaira for 48 hours, saying the restriction had been imposed for security reasons.<\/p>\n

Exasperation has boiled over in some areas where people claim that authorities have not done enough to rescue earthquake victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe country needs you. Put down your weapon,\u201d one man shouted to soldiers in the Tanaguarena area of La Guaira state, urging them to swap their guns for picks and shovels.<\/p>\n

Twenty-four nations have so far sent 521 tonnes of supplies, 86 units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel, she said.<\/p>\n

The UN migration agency said that up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the disasters, and would require shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and essential relief items.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s worst earthquakes in more than a century have come after the oil-rich country endured more than a decade of economic collapse. The crisis has hollowed out hospitals and public services, driving millions to leave the country.<\/p>\n

The UN has put the bill for physical repairs at $6.7bn (\u00a35bn) \u2013 equivalent to 6% of Venezuela\u2019s GDP. On Monday, the US announced it was doubling its aid package from $150m to $300m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese funds will provide emergency medical care, food assistance, water and sanitation, shelter, protection, and logistics,\u201d the state department said.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan opposition figure Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, who is in exile, announced she would return \u201cvery soon\u201d to her homeland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time has come,\u201d she told the US broadcaster Fox News on Sunday. \u201cWe need to be together, to embrace, to grieve and mourn together, but also to give each other strength at this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A strong aftershock has rattled northern Venezuela, sending terrified residents racing on to the streets five days after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-517233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517233","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=517233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}