Aftershock hits Caracas during critical hours for Venezuela rescue efforts

A strong aftershock has jolted Venezuela following last week’s devastating earthquakes, as rescue teams race to find survivors with time running out.

The United States Geological Survey said Monday’s 4.6-magnitude aftershock was at a depth of 10 km (6 miles) with the epicentre north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.

Jorge Rodriguez, the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, said there were no immediate reports of additional damage.

“Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” Concepcion Hernandez, 51, told AP, as she evacuated her apartment building in the Chacao municipality of Caracas after the new tremor.

International and local rescue efforts have been racing against time and focusing on the northern port city of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area of the country embroiled in a long-running political and economic crisis.

The back-to-back 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that hit northwestern Venezuela last Wednesday have left close to 1,500 people confirmed dead and hundreds of ⁠⁠buildings collapsed, with tens of thousands believed to be still missing. The search for survivors involves 30,000 Venezuelan rescue workers and 2,700 foreign experts.

The critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped victims after a natural disaster passed on Saturday evening. However, a handful of rescues on Sunday offered glimmers of hope. Survival can be extended if people have access to food and water.

“Today we have recovered people alive and, therefore, operations are not being suspended. We always maintain hope,” interim President Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday.

Venezuelan authorities say they’ve received support from 24 countries, which have sent more than 500 tonnes of supplies, 2,700 rescue and support personnel and about 86 ⁠⁠teams with search dogs.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele shared the story of a rescue of 21-year-old Aaron Levi in a collapsed building in La Guaira, writing on X: “This rescue was made possible thanks to the ‌‌coordinated efforts of rescue teams from Venezuela, Mexico, and El Salvador.”

Venezuela’s president said he had spent 106 hours buried under rubble.

Reporting from Catia La Mar in La Guaira, Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo said on Sunday that family members had marked several collapsed homes where they were unable to recover the bodies of their loved ones.

“The relatives are waiting for them outside for their bodies to be retrieved,” Bo said.

She added that aid, including water and food, had only just started to reach the hardest-hit areas, where many residents continued to camp outside.

Bo described the disaster as a major test both for the international community and for the new government of Rodriguez, who assumed the presidency after the US military’s abduction of President Nicolas Maduro in January.