Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has militarised the devastated state of La Guaira, where the death toll from Wednesday’s twin earthquakes has now exploded to 589.

CARACAS, June 26 — The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes has more than tripled overnight, officially hitting 589 as rescue crews dig deeper into the rubble. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed the horrific surge in fatalities on Thursday afternoon, revising the injured count to 2,980. The state machinery is buckling under the sheer scale of the devastation. They haven’t faced a domestic crisis of this magnitude in modern history. Rodríguez officially ordered the military to seize control of La Guaira to manage the spiralling emergency response and maintain public order.

The earth simply won’t stop moving.

Seismologists have tracked 214 violent aftershocks since Wednesday’s massive 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors ripped through the northern coast. Hospitals in La Guaira are completely overwhelmed. Local doctors told BBC reporters they’re operating with a critical lack of medical supplies to treat basic trauma, let alone crush injuries. So, local emergency workers spent the entire night tearing through collapsed concrete with their bare hands, guided only by the voices of trapped survivors begging for help.

But they aren’t fighting alone anymore.

A massive wave of over 1,000 international search and rescue personnel is currently flooding into the country. Eighty Swiss rescuers and a specialised Mexican disaster unit have already hit the ground. Spain’s Emergency Military Unit touched down today alongside Dutch teams bringing highly trained sniffer dogs. And UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher confirmed they’ve coordinated an active deployment of teams from Italy, Germany, France, and the UK. Can foreign intervention bridge the gap in a nation already suffering from deep systemic fragility?

Rescue teams have managed to pull dozens of citizens alive from the wreckage today. Yet, total communication blackouts continue to torture families attempting to locate missing relatives across the coastal districts. They can’t get any answers from overwhelmed local authorities, leaving thousands desperately waiting for phone calls that might never connect.

The military lockdown in La Guaira aims to establish order, but it won’t keep the window for finding survivors open forever.