Earthquake in Venezuela, death toll exceeds 4,000

The death toll from a devastating earthquake in Venezuela has exceeded 4,000. The government said on Friday (July 10) that 4,118 people have been killed and 16,740 injured in the June 24 earthquake so far. Thousands are still missing. The head of Venezuela's parliament, Jorge Rodriguez, gave this information in a post on Telegram.

Two powerful earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale struck just 39 seconds apart on June 24. It was the strongest earthquake in the country in a century. It collapsed many high-rise buildings in the coastal state of La Guaira and turned a large area into rubble.

According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, although government rescue teams have finished searching for survivors, many families are still searching in the rubble in the hope of recovering the bodies of missing relatives.

Meanwhile, another earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale hit the capital Caracas on Friday, sparking fresh panic. Several buildings were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Venezuela's long-running economic crisis has weakened the country's public services, making recovery efforts a major challenge. The United Nations announced nearly $300 million in emergency aid on Wednesday. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) estimated that the earthquake caused direct damage to housing and infrastructure at about $37 billion.