Earthquake disaster in Venezuela: Needs ‘skyrocketing’, aid agencies say
The miraculous story of the rescue of the three-year-old child in the worst-hit northern region came as tens of thousands of people were left without adequate shelter after earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck in less than a minute.
“As the death toll rises, needs skyrocket”, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in an online alert on Tuesday. Nearly 2,000 deaths have been confirmed and more than 6,400 people have been rescued so far, authorities said.
The response to the UN quake includes:
- UNICEF: Enough supplies flown in for 100,000 people for three months
- UNHCR: Provides shelter and warns that many basic needs are increasing.
- OCHA: Coordinates dozens of international rescue teams still working.
- UNDAC: Assessment of Urgent Needs in the Most Affected Communities.
Multiple UN agencies and partners remain on the ground in the hardest-hit areas and are working with local authorities and aid partners to help families access shelter, health care, protection and other essential services.
“Every life is important”, the UN Aid Coordination Office, OCHAstressed on Wednesday, as national and international search and rescue teams remained on the ground in La Guaira.
The UN Disaster Assessment Coordination (UNDAC) teams are also helping to assess needs and continue their work to know “where and for whom humanitarian assistance is needed,” said UNDAC Information Officer Veronique Durroux.
In total, approximately 1,000 buildings, including hospitals, have been damaged or completely destroyed, as well as more than 400 schools and water systems.
In response to the emergency, an initial shipment of 47 tons of humanitarian supplies was delivered from the UN Children’s Fund UNICEFarrived in Venezuela on Tuesday.
These deliveries complement a regional shipment from Panama that arrived on June 28. Combined, they will support more than 100,000 children and families over three months.
Urgent funding call
“UNICEF is on the ground and working around the clock to reach as many children and families as possible,” the organization said UNICEF‘s Gabriel Vockel, speaking in La Guaira. “TThe first flights with water, medicine and many other necessities have reached the country and we are grateful for the solidarity. And we’re asking for donations to UNICEF because with more money we can save more livesreach more children and reach as many families as possible.”
The shipment – facilitated by the European Union through UNICEF’s logistics hub in Copenhagen – includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment.
Water purification and storage facilities have also been provided, as well as tents for child-friendly areas and wheelchairs. Other recreational and early childhood development supplies shipped are intended to help children regain a sense of normalcy and continue learning.
“Families in affected states urgently need safe water and access to health care,” said Roberto Benes, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Many sleep outside, afraid of more aftershocks. These supplies will help us reach children and families with what they need most now… But the The needs on the ground are much greater than what has arrived.”
Children affected in six states
The agency estimates that about 680,000 children are in need of humanitarian assistance in the six states affected by the earthquakes – the most significant seismic event to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
“Communities remain at risk from persistent aftershocks, of which there have been more than 600 since the first earthquakes,” UNICEF said.
UNICEF estimates that $52 million is needed to respond to the earthquake emergency, as part of the broader 2026 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal to Venezuela, which amounts to $137.6 million and was only 35 percent funded before the earthquakes.
