Dead · Missing
The Count
Every official figure the Venezuelan government released, every outside estimate, and the reports that questioned them — 24 June to 24 August 2026.
Official ReportsCitizen Registry / Media / NGODocuments Needed
24 Aug 2026
stated 25 Jun, never revised
41–43% most likely range
30 Jun 2026
citizen registries
The true magnitude of the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck Yaracuy State and La Guaira State in north central Venezuela on 24 June at approximately 22:04:32 and 22:05:04 UTC remains unknown, with the 72-hour response time to rescue the maximum number of survivors long since passed.
The U.S. Geological Survey released an automated PAGER Red alert with preliminary threat metrics within minutes of the doublet — the term for double earthquakes — striking. The automated alert system modeled a 41% to 43% probability of a death toll in the 10,000 to 100,000 range based on population density metrics.
Approximately 590,000 people were in areas affected by severe to violent shaking, 4.8 million people were exposed to strong shaking, and over 16 million people were within the earthquakes' footprint, according to iMMAP.
Within hours of the doublet striking, citizen-led initiatives developed online registries to help survivors locate their loved ones. UN OCHA provided the first official fatality number at 7:00 a.m. UTC on 25 June with the number, citing local authorities, of 32 dead and over 700 injured.
The Venezuelan government released their first official numbers at 19:14 UTC on 25 June with 188 fatalities reported and 157 reported missing. The 25 June brief was the only official missing count the government provided.
Shortly after the announcement issued by the National Assembly, Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado reported that, as of 23:00 UTC, 235 people had arrived without vital signs or died at health facilities.
Death toll announcements were provided through the National Assembly daily from 25 June to 5 July, with National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez providing daily updates through X (formerly Twitter) from 3 July to 24 July and then switching to a weekly format.
The official death count has been mirrored in all official reporting of fatalities from the earthquake. However, the death count provided undercuts the USGS PAGER modeled estimates and the International Rescue Committee's 50,000 missing persons estimate announced on 30 June.
The Venezuelan government has not addressed the missing person count, with the 25 June number never updated, despite the creation of the 0800-RESCATE (7372283) hotline for citizens to report missing on 27 June. The citizen registries created still report 17,808 to 29,523 missing persons unaccounted for.
Media outlets continue to cite the government's official toll, but the consensus of nearly every independent report is that the true number of dead may never be known. A lack of transparency, government-imposed media blackouts, health care, morgue, identification, and burial systems pushed far past capacity, and the obstruction of relief efforts have combined to erase the count before it could ever be taken.
The information below contains all official reports from the Venezuelan government of the death and missing persons toll, official estimates provided by outside government and non-governmental organizations, and media, NGO and citizen reporting.
The Official Count
Government & NGO reports-
24 JunU.S. Geological SurveyAutomated alert issued within minutes: 41–43% probability of 10,000–100,000 deaths. Companion event: M 7.2 PAGER page.
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25 Jun – 24 AugVenezuelan government reportsOne row per source document — every National Assembly web article and every X report or bulletin, 25 June to 24 August 2026, with dead, missing, injured and patients-treated figures and the link for each. Blank means the category did not appear in that document, not zero.XLSX · 33 documents
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25 JunUN OCHAFirst official fatality figure: 32 dead and over 700 injured, citing local authorities.
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25 JunHealth Minister Carlos Alvarado, on Venezuelan TV“Until the cut-off of 7:00 p.m. today, the public system has guaranteed the care of more than 4,300 injured, mostly with minor injuries and some moderate and serious cases that required surgical interventions, and unfortunately we have received around 235 people who arrive without vital signs or die when they arrive at our health facilities, with the most important number of affected people located in the state of La Guaira.”
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27 JunHealth Minister Carlos Alvarado, on Venezuelan TV“Lamentablemente hemos recibido alrededor de 920 pacientes que llegan sin signos vitales o fallecen al momento de arribar en nuestros establecimientos de salud.”
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27 JunJorge Rodríguez, National Assembly President — on X“Acompañamos a la Pdta. (E) Delcy Rodríguez, durante el balance de atención por afectaciones tras los sismos ocurridos este 24 de junio. Ya está disponible el número 0800-RESCATE (7372283) para el reporte de desaparecidos.” The missing count was never revised after 25 June.
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29 JunUN News“Officials have yet to confirm a figure for the missing.” UN and Venezuelan authorities had agreed to procure 10,000 body bags in anticipation of the death toll rising further.
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29 JunUN NewsUN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher called an estimate of 50,000 people still missing “terrifyingly plausible.”
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30 JunInternational Rescue Committee“Almost 50,000 people, including children, remain missing under rubble, with rescue workers racing against a closing survival window.”
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30 JunJorge Rodríguez, on X — La Guaira balance~30,000 people estimated in the La Guaira disaster zone (Caraballeda to Catia La Mar); 19,861 survived — 6,461 rescued by organised teams and 13,400–13,500 self-evacuated or helped by relatives; 1,943 dead; 10,571 injured; 15,866 displaced; 689 aftershocks in six days.
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3 Jul – 24 AugJorge Rodríguez (@jorgerpsuv) — daily and weekly bulletins on X and Telegram25 bulletins: 21 daily reports (3–24 July) and four weekly reconstruction-phase bulletins (3, 10, 17 and 24 August). The 4 July report was published only on Telegram; the 8 July report appears in a video on X. Most individual posts have no stable permalink in the source record, so every X- or Telegram-sourced figure in the timeline above opens this compilation at that day's page. Original images of the 4 July, 8 July and 3 August reports are in the annex. Spanish original: Partes oficiales · Venezuela 2026.PDF · 32 pages
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6 JulGovernor of La Guaira“The moment will come when bodies, if not claimed due to the advanced state (of decomposition) in which they are found, will be taken to the Esperanza Cemetery starting today for their burial, but also perfectly identified — mass graves do not exist.” Radio segment: UR 903 (2).
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13 JulMinisterio de Hábitat y ViviendaA biometric census of quake-hit families, begun formally in the transitional camps.
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23 JulSENAMECF, via Agencia Venezolana de Noticias38 bodies in SENAMECF custody at Bolipuertos Los Silos, La Guaira, listed as unclaimed.
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30 JulJosé Alejandro Terán, Governor of La GuairaNamed per family reports to the Unified Housing Registry, in an interview with Caracol Radio — a state-level figure the national count never absorbed.
The underlying documents
The government's own numbers, as published, in the two forms they were published in — the web briefs and data sheet, and the bulletins that only ever appeared as posts on X.
Citizen Registries
Created 24 June 2026Three registries were built by citizens within hours of the doublet. Together they hold 41,341–44,433 names, of whom 17,808–29,523 remain without contact.
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24 Jun
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24 JunRegistro de desaparecidos44,433 unique names · 29,523 with no contact.
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24 Jun
Media and NGO Reports
Independent reporting-
28 JunPROVEA“On Saturday #27Jun Jorge Rodríguez reported 1,430 deaths; 24 hours later he reports 1,450 — only 20 deaths in one day. We demand that the State allow access by civil society and independent organizations to verify and cross-check the data. We need zero opacity in the response to this national tragedy.”
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29 Jun
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29 Jun
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30 JunThe New York Times
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1 JulThe New York Times
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1 Jul
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2 Jul
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3 JulEL PAÍS US · Carla Gloria Colomé
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Jul
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12 JulTransparencia VenezuelaHighlights inconsistencies in Jorge Rodríguez's 30 June post on X, with approximately 8,000 estimated to be in the La Guaira area unaccounted for.PDF
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17 Jul
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23 Jul
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30 Jul
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2 AugThe Washington Post
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AugAgence France-Presse, via Courthouse News Service
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Jun–AugThe Wall Street Journal
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Jun
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Jun
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Jun–AugÚltimas NoticiasFamily from Bahía Mar recovers all 7 members after 57 days of searching · Search efforts continue in La Guaira · Nico returned to his family after surviving 49 days under the rubble · Grandmother continues search in Bahía Mar 50 days after earthquake · Family members continue search in block 3 of La Páez · 16 people have been rescued from the El Palmar building · Bodies buried in La Guaira, individually coded · Civil Protection denies rescue of people alive who were allegedly trapped for 28 days · Free cremations guaranteed for victims of the double earthquake in La Guaira · Diosdado Cabello: We conducted a thorough study to identify the bodies of those who died in the earthquakes