The president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, announced the new death toll, which represents an increase from the figure reported the previous week, which was 6,301 fatalities.
The two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 degrees, struck the region near Venezuela's coast on 24 June and caused the collapse of at least 190 buildings. Approximately two months after the disaster, families of the missing and rescue teams continue searching through the rubble.
Authorities reported that at least 60,000 homes suffered damage of varying degrees, while approximately 24,000 houses became uninhabitable. The damage has forced thousands of residents to live in temporary camps under difficult and unstable conditions, whilst efforts to provide alternative housing progress slowly.
In the capital Caracas, heavy rains that fell over the weekend worsened the situation for those affected, bringing down some of the tents housing people who lost their homes in the earthquakes. So far, only 335 homes have been delivered of the 4,000 that the government committed to delivering by the end of the year.
As the search for the missing continues and thousands of people remain in temporary camps, the new figures reflect the ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from the earthquakes two months after they occurred, at a time when authorities face challenges in providing alternative housing to families whose homes were damaged or rendered unusable.
