El Niño Fears Grow as Venezuelan Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 5,000

Tens of Thousands Still Estimated Missing

The death toll from the series of earthquakes that struck Venezuela last month has reportedly surpassed 500 as of July 17 (local time).

According to AFP, Jorge Rodriguez, President of the National Assembly, announced that the officially recorded number of deaths as of that day was 5,069. The number of injured remains unchanged from previous reports at 16,740. Rodriguez had previously stated that most of the injured had already been discharged from hospitals.

On June 24, Venezuela experienced two powerful earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 in succession, which devastated the coastal region of La Guaira State, located north of the capital Caracas.

Playa Grande in La Guaira State, Venezuela, collapsed due to Jin. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

It is reported that the identities of at least 300 of the deceased have yet to be confirmed. Authorities are collecting DNA samples from the bodies before they are interred in communal cemeteries for identification purposes. Approximately 20,000 displaced people are currently living in temporary shelters, but many lack access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities.

The Venezuelan government has not released official statistics on the missing, but independent opposition estimates put the number of missing persons at around 30,000. The United Nations estimated on June 27, three days after the earthquakes, that as many as 50,000 people were missing.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has projected that the death toll from the Venezuelan earthquakes could range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 100,000.

Meanwhile, an official from the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that El Niño could pose a significant additional threat to the earthquake survivors.

Lucas Gedzes Akhrat, IOM Venezuela Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator, remarked, "There are discussions within the UN regarding the likelihood of a very strong El Niño forming. With so many people having already lost their homes, a potential El Niño impact could further devastate Venezuela." El Niño refers to a phenomenon in which the surface temperature of equatorial ocean waters rises above average, causing major shifts in weather patterns, and often leads to extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods, and droughts.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported last month that this year’s El Niño has already begun, and there is a 63% probability that it could develop into a ‘super El Niño’ with tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures exceeding normal by more than two degrees Celsius.

In an appeal released the previous day, the IOM called on the international community for support, stating that $98 million (approximately KRW 14.6 billion) would be required over the next 12 months for aid and recovery efforts in Venezuela. The United Nations has estimated that the direct physical damage from the earthquakes amounts to $670 million (approximately KRW 998.3 billion), and that total economic losses, including indirect damage, could reach up to three times that amount.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.