Venezuela quake death toll at 2,295 as health crisis looms

A week after devastating twin earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, the official death toll has risen to 2,295, but fears are mounting over a severe secondary health crisis as the country's already fragile infrastructure buckles under the strain. The earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck seconds apart on June 24 along the San Sebastián Fault, causing catastrophic damage along the central Caribbean coast, including the state of La Guaira and the capital metropolitan area of Caracas.

A preliminary NASA satellite assessment using imagery from June 25 found approximately 58,870 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The scale of the destruction has overwhelmed emergency services and complicated rescue efforts. While search teams from more than two dozen countries continue to work, the window for finding survivors has narrowed dramatically. A small number of rescues have provided moments of hope, including a two-year-old boy pulled alive from rubble in La Guaira after being trapped for six days.

The disaster's aftermath has exposed profound vulnerabilities in Venezuela's healthcare system. Hospitals are operating beyond capacity, with facilities damaged, overcrowded, and...