Two and a Half Weeks After the Worst Quakes in 120 Years: State of Emergency Shapes Daily Life in Venezuela

The UN further estimates up to 50,000 missing. The authorities provide no precise figures on the missing. The UN has purchased 10,000 body bags, and according to the Pan American Health Organization, at least 300 victims have since been buried unnamed in mass graves.

Since then, more than 1,170 aftershocks have followed. Many people are currently camping in tents or schools. Nearly 18,000 people have lost their homes, according to official statistics. These shelters must be cleared at the beginning of September when the new school year starts, further intensifying the question of permanent housing.

Makeshift Emergency Shelters and the Question of Evacuation

The Venezuelan government announced the construction of provisional accommodations. The official in charge of emergency shelters, Rodriguez, explained that families were to be housed there. In the hardest-hit neighborhoods, however, the supply situation remains difficult because logistics chains are disrupted and construction companies have hardly any capacity.

Phil Gunson, an analyst at the International Crisis Group who has lived in the capital Caracas for more than 25 years, describes the situation bluntly: «Die Anwohner mussten mit blossen Händen nach ihren Angehörigen graben, und in dieser Zeit starben Menschen.» The bodies still being recovered now are barely recognizable. And the morgues in the disaster zone are overflowing.

Expert Assessment from Caracas

Gunson stresses that humanitarian aid is urgently needed now: «Jetzt braucht es eine andere Art Unterstützung: Humanitäre Hilfe für die vielen tausenden Verletzten und Familien, die durch die Beben obdachlos geworden sind.» Most international rescue teams have since departed, widening the supply gap.

Regarding the scale of the crisis, the analyst says: «Die Krise im Katastrophengebiet sprengt alle Dimensionen.» He adds: «Aber Normalität in Venezuela bedeutet, dass die Menschen in einem komplexen humanitären Dauernotzustand leben.» This assessment makes clear that the earthquakes struck an already fragile supply situation.

Political Situation in the Earthquake Zone

On the role of the government in the first days, Gunson says: «Die Regierung war die ersten zwei bis drei Tage nicht präsent vor Ort.» It probably truly could simply do very little, yet the accusation remains that the response came too late. The official figures are likely well below the actual death toll.

Edmundo González, recognized as election winner by large parts of the international community, is still in exile in Spain. Opposition leader María Corina Machado has not yet traveled to Venezuela, and the opposition appears rather fragmented. As a result, the disaster region also lacks a political force that could independently of the government build pressure for rapid aid.

The background is that experts have been warning of severe earthquakes in the region for decades. The current disaster hit a country whose infrastructure was already weakened by years of economic crisis. We will probably never know the exact death toll, as Gunson cautions. This report was broadcast on 12.07.2026 on Deutschlandfunk.