Two major earthquakes hit Venezuela on June 24, killing more than 3,300 people and injuring nearly 17,000 others. The official death count, reported on July 4, is expected to climb higher as rescue workers continue searching through collapsed buildings near the coast north of Caracas. By July 5, international rescue teams had stopped looking for survivors and shifted to recovering bodies — a sign that the immediate rescue phase was ending.

The earthquakes measured 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude and their center was near San Felipe, west of the capital. They flattened many buildings and left thousands homeless, particularly along the La Guaira coast. Reuters reported on June 25 that hundreds of people were trapped under rubble. The death count rose quickly: around 1,500 by June 28, over 2,000 by July 2, and now 3,342.

The Government Under Fire

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez spoke on July 5 at a military ceremony marking Venezuela's independence day. She defended the government's earthquake response against criticism. "There will be no social unrest here — what we have here is deep social solidarity," she said, claiming thousands of government workers and rescue teams had been sent to dig out victims.

But many Venezuelans are not convinced. Reuters reported that on July 2, Rodríguez dismissed claims the government was slow to respond. Still, anger on the ground has focused on two things: the delay before foreign rescue teams arrived (they got there by June 28), and the lack of government help in the first days when ordinary people were doing most of the rescue work themselves.

By July 1, Venezuela's housing ministry said it was working with the private housing sector to find temporary homes for those who lost theirs. The government has also pointed to cooperation between government agencies and community groups as proof of a coordinated effort. Yet whether any of this actually helped people in the first critical days remains disputed.

This matters because Venezuela's economy was already in severe trouble before the earthquakes. Many people were already struggling. That existing stress makes the disaster worse and adds to doubts about whether the government can be trusted.

Identifying the Dead

The focus now is on identifying bodies and arranging burials. Dead bodies are being brought to the port in La Guaira. Private companies have donated large refrigerated shipping containers to keep the bodies while forensic experts work to identify them. Forensic technician Joel Mirabal told The Guardian that in about 6 or 7 out of 10 cases, a family member or neighbor can identify a body right away. For the rest, the process is more complex. Mirabal said he expects to spend three months collecting bodies and that officials will need to dig mass graves.

Money is a problem for grieving families. One family mentioned by The Guardian could not pay a funeral home's $450 fee, so they accepted a free burial plot from the mayor instead. This shows how the disaster has hit people who were already in financial difficulty.

After the two main earthquakes, nearly 20 smaller aftershocks followed, forcing more people to leave their homes and causing more damage to buildings that were already cracked and weakened. One guard was pulled alive from rubble seven days after the earthquakes — a reminder that people can survive under collapsed buildings for a surprisingly long time. That's why rescue teams can't just stop work immediately; they have to keep searching.

What Happens Next

The government is saying it managed the crisis well. Many Venezuelans say it didn't act fast enough and didn't help enough in the early days. This is the central political argument. The death count is already one of the deadliest earthquakes in South America in recent decades and will likely go higher as more bodies are found and identified over the coming months.

President Rodríguez chose to make her defense on independence day and focused on themes of national unity rather than discussing whether anyone made mistakes. The real test will come when more death counts are released and when people see whether the government actually delivers the housing help it promised.