Nearly 50,000 people remain missing after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, with search teams continuing to comb through collapsed buildings more than five days after the disaster, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has reported.
The IRC said at least 12,721 people have been displaced, while hundreds of buildings have collapsed across Caracas, La Guaira and surrounding states. Entire communities remain cut off as roads, communications and essential services continue to be severely disrupted.
As of Tuesday morning, Venezuelan authorities had confirmed more than 1,700 deaths and at least 5,000 injuries after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck about a minute apart near Venezuela's Caribbean coast, west of Caracas.
The IRC said the humanitarian crisis has been worsened by the near-total collapse of the national water system across seven states, leaving survivors in overcrowded shelters, hospital patients and rescue workers without reliable access to clean drinking water.
“IRC local partners are responding to the emergency through health, protection, water and sanitation services and distributing essential supplies in La Guaira, but report that demand far outstrips what is available,” IRC said in a statement.
Rescue operations remain underway, although aid agencies warn that the chances of finding survivors are rapidly diminishing as efforts extend well beyond the critical 72-hour rescue window.
“What we are seeing in the shelters is heartbreaking; women alone with young children, no documents, no medicine, no idea where their partners or relatives are,” said Venezuela Country Director for IRC Nicole Kast.
She added that repeated aftershocks are worsening conditions in displacement sites.
“Children are not sleeping. Every aftershock sends collective panic through the shelters, and the psychological toll will last long after the rubble is cleared,” Kast said.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the twin earthquakes, including as many as 2 million residents of the capital, Caracas. The agency also warned that displacement is expected to increase as more people flee damaged areas in search of safety.
“The humanitarian needs are both immediate and significant. Families who have lost everything require emergency shelter, safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, health care, protection support and essential relief items,” IOM said last week.
According to the IOM, while search and rescue efforts remain the immediate priority, long-term recovery will require sustained international support to help communities rebuild homes, restore essential services and recover livelihoods.
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