Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 4,000, Thousands Missing

The death toll from the devastating twin earthquakes in Venezuela has now exceeded 4,000.

At least 4,118 people were killed and 16,740 injured in the successive earthquakes on 24 June, which flattened entire districts in the coastal state of La Guaira. This was announced by Venezuela’s parliamentary speaker Jorge Rodriguez on Telegram, as reported by the AFP news agency on Saturday (11 July 2026).

Thousands of others remain missing.

In the disaster, the stronger quake — with a magnitude of 7.5, the largest earthquake to hit Venezuela in more than a century — struck 39 seconds after the initial magnitude-7.2 tremor, reducing entire blocks of high-rise apartment buildings to rubble.

Although rescue teams have halted the search for survivors, family members continue searching for their loved ones amid the ruins, hoping to recover their bodies and give them a proper burial.

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, on Wednesday called for the unfreezing of Venezuelan funds held abroad to help the country cope with the disaster.

She revealed that she had sent a letter to King Charles III of England requesting the release of assets comprising roughly 30 tonnes of gold reserves frozen as a result of sanctions imposed by the London authorities.

Rodriguez, as reported by AFP on Friday (10 July 2026), explained that the gold assets could be used for post-earthquake reconstruction in Venezuela.

“I have decided to send a letter to the King of England so that the gold stored at the Bank of England is released,” Rodriguez said during a government television broadcast on Wednesday (8 July) local time.

“This gold belongs to our people. We need this gold to deal with the impact of the earthquake,” she said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is working to raise US$300 million in recovery funds for Venezuela.

The South American country is also negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unblock its frozen financial assets.