A car destroyed during the twin earthquakes on June 24 still lies under debris at the entrance of the Cesar Nieves baseball stadium in the La Angustia neighborhood in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, on July 3, 2026 (Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP)
The death toll from the two powerful earthquakes that rocked Venezuela last week has risen to more than 2,600, while thousands of injured are now being treated in makeshift clinics, including a McDonald’s restaurant and a bus terminus.
The earthquakes, with a magnitude of 7.2 and 7.5 respectively, hit the coastal state of La Guaira the worst. Maroela Media earlier reported that the death toll first stood at nearly 1,000 and later at more than 1,400, while rescue teams relentlessly searched through the rubble.
According to the latest official figures, the death toll stands at 2,645 with more than 12,600 people injured in the disaster. Thousands of people are still missing.
The scale of the devastation overwhelmed hospitals in the area within hours, and emergency clinics have now been hastily set up to handle the influx of patients.
Residents of La Guaira search for missing loved ones through posters (June 27, 2026) (Photo: Federico Parra / AFP)
In Caraballeda, one of the hardest hit areas, a McDonald’s restaurant has been converted into a field hospital. Four bags of intravenous fluid hang from the ceiling, while doctors treat patients for, among other things, high blood pressure, anxiety attacks and diarrhea.
Karlys Figueroa (33), a surgeon and volunteer in the relief effort, says the restaurant now has an emergency department, pharmacy, storage space and spaces for psychological help and even veterinary care.
More than 30 doctors are treating victims at this temporary clinic. At the counter where hamburgers used to be sold, donated sandwiches are now handed out. The ice cream department has since been converted into a shelter for rescued animals.
Another temporary health center has been set up in a bus terminus in Catia La Mar. Almost 4,000 patients have already been treated there.
This is what it looks like in Venezuela after the earthquakes (27 June 2026) (Photo: Javier Campos / NurPhoto via AFP)
Among them is 13-year-old Iverson Medina, who received treatment on a stretcher in a large tent. His right leg and left ankle were injured after being trapped under the rubble of his apartment building for 16 hours.
“I was very scared because I thought they weren’t going to save me. Only when I saw the firefighters did I start to calm down,” he told AFP. Medina and a cousin survived, but he saw his grandmother and another cousin die.
Maria Jose Pino, a gynecologist and obstetrician who works at the health center in the bus terminus, describes the scenes after the disaster as “terrible”.
“There were dead bodies in the street. The morgue couldn’t keep up,” she said. Pino himself was injured in the earthquake, but has been treating patients non-stop since the disaster.
Rescue workers at the scene of a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Caracas (Photo: Manaure Quintero/AFP)
The United Nations, meanwhile, has warned that the risk of epidemics is increasing as thousands of people are crowded into shelters. More than 150 buildings in La Guaira completely collapsed.
Doctors are already treating patients for diarrhea, dysentery, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting. According to Antonio Olaizola, a doctor, overcrowding in shelters is currently one of the biggest risks for the spread of infectious diseases.
“We already have infections stemming from this disaster,” he said. “The overpopulation is currently extremely critical for these types of infectious diseases.”
