Venezuela's government reports 6,509 deaths from the June earthquakes, but analyses from the New York Times and U.S. Geological Survey suggest this is a severe undercount. The USGS estimates a median of 53,000 deaths, with an 81 percent chance the actual number exceeds 10,000. Their model, Land Scan, uses historical data, population distribution, and satellite imagery to estimate casualties when government censuses are outdated.
A Times examination of public housing in La Guaira found 16 collapsed towers, each with 12 floors of 8 apartments housing roughly 3.4 people per unit, totaling approximately 5,200 residents in these structures alone. Satellite imagery analysis by Copernicus shows nearly 700 structures destroyed, far exceeding the government's claim of 190 buildings. Francisco Garcés, a government minister, confirmed 656 collapsed structures and 370 homes.
Survivors express anger over the government's refusal to report missing persons, prompting citizen-led efforts like Venezuela Earthquake Disappeared, which has logged over 29,000 missing individuals.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing