More than 58,000 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed by the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela last week, according to a preliminary satellite data analysis that suggests the scale of the disaster could dwarf official estimates. The back-to-back quakes – magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 – killed at least 1,943 people, injured more than 10,571, and left tens of thousands missing beneath the rubble.
As families in the hard-hit port city of La Guaira desperately search for loved ones – including two brothers trying to recover the bodies of their sister and nieces – the UN migration agency has warned that up to 6.8 million people may need shelter, water, sanitation and healthcare. So far this weekend, only 33 people have been rescued alive.
“Satellite data suggests 58,870 buildings damaged in Venezuela quakes, dwarfing official toll of 855.”
The official toll remained far lower than the satellite data suggests. On Monday, Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the National Assembly, said 855 buildings had been damaged, including 189 “total collapses”. But researchers at Oregon State University, analysing high-resolution radar imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellites, concluded that “approximately 58,870 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed across the affected region”. They cautioned: “This is a preliminary, rapid assessment. It reflects abrupt surface change consistent with damage.”
The World Health Organization has sounded the alarm over potential disease outbreaks as Venezuela’s damaged health facilities struggle to cope. “The health services are under extreme pressure now, with facilities operating beyond the capacity,” said spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. He warned of “an increased risk” of measles, diphtheria, yellow fever, malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Zika due to low pre-quake vaccination rates. The WHO found that in La Guaira, obstetric care has been crippled because maternity care workers are still missing, and described “chaotic service delivery and patient flow, marked by overcrowding [and] growing surgical backlogs”, as well as problems registering casualties and tracking the missing.
The full extent of the destruction may take weeks to assess, but the satellite data already points to a humanitarian crisis far worse than initial government figures.