One month after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela’s north-central coast, humanitarian organizations are drawing attention to the long-term effects communities are still facing, including displacement, damaged infrastructure, and disrupted essential services. The earthquakes killed nearly 5,400 people, injured more than 16,000, and left thousands homeless.
After two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 hit the north-central region within a minute of each other at 6 p.m. local time on June 24, the country is facing a national emergency. These were the most significant seismic events to affect Venezuela in over a century.
These earthquakes killed more than 5,390 people, injured over 16,700, and triggered more than 1,460 aftershocks. Additionally, 6,462 people were rescued alive. Up to 1.3 million people in the affected areas need humanitarian assistance.
Nearly 24,000 people still live in transitional camps across Venezuela. According to authorities, 107 transitional camps are operating to support affected populations. As of Wednesday, 41 of these camps are in Caracas, 28 are in La Guaira, 28 are in Miranda, and 10 are in Aragua.
The structural devastation is staggering. According to authorities, at least 856 buildings have been affected, 190 of which collapsed. Damage assessments continue to reveal the scale of the impact, with thousands of buildings preliminarily assessed so far.
An initial assessment by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) estimates the direct damage to housing and infrastructure at around US$37 billion. Most of the damage, totaling around $24 billion, is concentrated in housing, businesses, schools, hospitals, and public facilities.
On Friday, marking one month since the earthquakes struck Venezuela, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that the humanitarian needs of tens of thousands of families remain immense.
Since the beginning of the emergency, aid agencies have collaborated with Venezuelan authorities to assist those in need. They have provided more than 117,000 people with food, healthcare, safe water, sanitation, protection, temporary shelter, education, nutrition, and psychosocial support.
This includes displaced individuals in temporary camps, primarily in La Guaira, the state most severely impacted by the disaster. Over 90 percent of those assisted are in the seven affected states, especially La Guaira, Miranda, the Capital District, and Aragua.
The rapid response was made possible through the efforts of at least 49 humanitarian organizations that implemented activities related to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); food security; health; shelter; nutrition; protection, including child protection and responses to gender-based violence (GBV); and education.
According to the authorities, the international community mobilized 3,000 tons of aid, and more than 30 countries deployed rescue teams and technical experts.
The government's response remains focused on managing transitional camps and providing assistance to affected populations. Aid agencies continue to implement activities in multiple sectors and scale up assistance to support communities affected by the earthquakes and people already in need of humanitarian assistance across the country.
Together with the Humanitarian Coordinator and in coordination with national authorities, OCHA continues to lead the humanitarian response by prioritizing actions in health, shelter, food security, water, sanitation, hygiene, logistics, and protection.
On Friday, OCHA stated that continued international support will be critical one month on, as humanitarian needs remain. To date, the humanitarian appeal launched following the earthquakes is only 41 percent funded. More resources are needed to sustain assistance and help affected families recover and rebuild their lives.
Earlier in July, the UN announced a $299 million addendum to the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) to address the needs of 1.3 million people affected by the earthquakes over the next six months. The addendum increased the target population from 5.5 million to 6.2 million people, raising total funding requirements from $632 million to $931 million.
In line with the addendum, several United Nations agencies, funds, and programs have issued emergency appeals to ramp up humanitarian assistance and support response and recovery efforts following the earthquakes.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) continues to expand its multifaceted humanitarian response, focusing on health, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), child protection, and early childhood development services in transitional camps, communities, and institutions.
UNICEF has provided life-saving assistance to over 21,000 people in the most affected areas. Additionally, supplies were distributed to cover the needs of up to 150,000 people.
On Friday, UNICEF announced that it is working to provide life-saving assistance to approximately 470,000 people, including 169,000 children, across the areas of health, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection, education, and social protection.
Access to food remains a top concern for families in the affected areas.
Also on Friday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it has provided food assistance to over 120,000 people, including hot meals in shelters, ready-to-eat rations for displaced individuals, food baskets for households with cooking capabilities, and prepaid electronic vouchers for areas with functioning markets. This approach empowers families to prioritize their own needs.
The UN agency is also serving as the logistics backbone of the humanitarian response by moving relief supplies into hard-to-reach communities. WFP's logistics services support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies by transporting and storing supplies for shelter, health, protection, and WASH.
WFP has secured one-third of the $80 million needed to sustain and expand the response, while the organization's efforts are ongoing to close the funding gap and ensure support for 500,000 people over three months.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Venezuelan Red Cross (VRC) have identified three critical areas for short- and medium-term humanitarian assistance: primary health care, mental health care, and access to safe drinking water.
In response to the crisis, the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) operates four mobile clinics that provide primary health care, mental health support, health promotion, and WASH activities in the hardest-hit areas. Three of the clinics are in La Guaira (Maiquetía, Catia La Mar, and Tamaguarena), and one is in Caracas (Avenida Bolívar).
These clinics provide primary healthcare, clean water, and emergency mental health interventions to families who have lost everything. In the past month, MSF medical teams have conducted 2,217 medical consultations.
On Friday, MSF warned that the injuries sustained extend beyond the physical realm. Families still searching for loved ones beneath the rubble, along with the shock of sudden homelessness and displacement, have given rise to a psychological crisis.
To address these mental health needs, MSF has incorporated mental health support into its mobile response, providing: 113 individual mental health sessions, 323 group therapy sessions, and 1,402 psycho-education sessions. With local infrastructure severely compromised, MSF teams are also implementing WASH interventions.
On Thursday, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said that international attention and financial support for earthquake-affected areas must ramp up without neglecting those who already needed humanitarian assistance.
While up to 1.3 million people in the disaster-stricken areas need humanitarian assistance, that number is over 700,000 more than before the earthquakes struck. This brings the total number of people in need of humanitarian assistance across the country to 8.6 million.
"The first month after a disaster often brings global solidarity and attention. The real test now is whether that support continues after the headlines fade," said Elena Vicario, NRC’s country director in Venezuela.
"Families who lost homes, livelihoods, and access to essential services cannot rebuild their lives on short-lived commitments."
Venezuela was already experiencing a protracted humanitarian crisis before the earthquakes, with over half of the population living in extreme poverty. Years of economic hardship have driven nearly 8 million people to leave the country.
The devastating earthquakes occurred at a time when millions of Venezuelans were already facing significant humanitarian needs. At the start of the year, some 7.9 million people in Venezuela required humanitarian assistance due to economic stagnation, inflation, and overburdened public services.
The country continues to grapple with complex economic and political developments that adversely affect vulnerable populations. Persistent gaps in basic services, including healthcare, water, education, and energy, remain among the most critical needs of vulnerable communities.
Access to social protection, livelihood support, and income-generating opportunities is limited, particularly for women, children, older adults, people with disabilities, indigenous communities, displaced people, and individuals from the LGBTQ+ community.