The death toll due to two powerful earthquakes struck the country a week ago rose to 1,943, said Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez Tuesday. He added another 10,571 people were left injured.
The quakes, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, hit central Venezuela less than a minute apart on June 24, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
A total of 855 buildings across the country had been affected by the disaster, with 189 completely destroyed and 666 partial collapsed. In the hardest-hit La Guaira, electricity service has been restored to near-full capacity, Rodriguez in the latest government update on the national emergency.
Rodriguez said that since search and rescue operations began, 6,461 people have been pulled from the rubble. Search and rescue efforts are still under way, with 3,660 foreign search and rescue workers, 51 international delegations, 148 sniffer dogs, and 49 support vehicles currently on the ground, and more than 700,000 tons of humanitarian aid have already been delivered.
Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Tuesday that health services in the country are under extreme pressure with the surge in trauma cases exceeding the capacity of health facilities.
WHO-verified data from Saturday on 21 health facilities across Caracas, La Guaira, Miranda and Falcon indicate that three are "in critical condition, six have structural damage or are partly functional, "and the rest remain operational under significant strain," Lindmeier said.
The WHO spokesperson also pointed to an "elevated health risk" for the displaced.
Venezuela quake death toll rises to 1,943
