Venezuela's earthquake death toll rises amid magnitude-4.6 aftershock

The death toll from Venezuela's two earthquakes has risen to more than 1,700, the president of the country's national assembly Jorge Rodriguez has confirmed.

More than 5,000 people were injured in the disaster and more than 15,000 have been left homeless, Mr Rodriguez said during an address to the nation televised on state television on Monday, local time.

The update came as Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced a government-run commission would be established to assess the viability of housing and infrastructure impacted by the earthquakes.

The government would also create "transitional camps" to house Venezuelans who had lost their homes in the disaster while new "planning projects" would look to construct new buildings, she said.

Search for survivors continues amid aftershocks

With the window for finding survivors shrinking fast, Venezuelans continued on Monday to comb through the ruins of buildings toppled the powerful back-to-back earthquakes.

During their efforts, a magnitude-4.6 aftershock struck the disaster zone in the northern state of La Guaira.

Relief organisations say the first 72 hours after a natural disaster is the most crucial time period for rescues, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water.

Five days after the quakes struck northern Venezuela, attention turned to the humanitarian crisis that was taking shape in devastated regions.

Major questions loomed about whether the cash-strapped government under Ms Rodríguez — who came to power in January after the Trump administration seized former President Nicolás Maduro — will be able to coordinate the effort needed to care for thousands of people who have been left homeless.

Facing criticism that authorities have done too little, too slowly, the government has promoted its rescue efforts on social and state-run media.

On Monday, it shared footage of Ms Rodríguez inspecting a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in the hard-hit northern town of Catia La Mar and survivors being lifted out of the ruins to applause.

Such moments of hope have been rare occurrences at rescue sites, despite families maintaining vigils in the area of the quakes' epicentre.

"We have to stay strong, even without food, without sleep," Ana Rada, a woman who has been watching authorities search for her brother, said.

"Until I see the body, I still have hope."

Monday's aftershock hit 27 kilometres north of Caraballeda on Venezuela's Caribbean coast, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Mr Rodríguez said there were no immediate reports of additional damage but the aftershock sent residents in the capital of Caracas screaming into the streets.

"Here we are again, back in the street. I don't know when we'll have a moment of true peace," Concepción Hernández, who evacuated her apartment building in Caracas

said.

The Caracas Metro said it would temporarily suspend service on Monday to inspect infrastructure following the aftershock.

Questions over extent of US help

The disaster has raised expectations for the Trump administration, considering its takeover of Venezuela's oil industry earlier this year.

In a briefing with reporters, a senior State Department official said 300 first responders sent from the US are working on the ground alongside dozens of other international rescue teams and two dozen C-17 military transport planes arrive every day with supplies.

Financial support from the US now exceeds $US300 million ($435.4 million).

The US military is also assisting with some repairs, including damage to the port in La Guaira to enable the arrival of more relief supplies by sea.

Another team is helping to manage air traffic after the quakes destroyed part of the control tower at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

It seemed unlikely that the Trump administration would grant temporary legal protections to Venezuelans as previous administrations have done for people from disaster-stricken countries already in the US.

Such action was taken after earthquakes in 2010 in Haiti and 2001 in El Salvador.

Venezuelans have been a major focus of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, with officials revoking temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and stepping up deportation flights.

Damage assessments as residents await help

The full scale of the damage after the two earthquakes remains unclear.

A preliminary assessment by NASA estimated the earthquake damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings. The assessment relied on radar imagery from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 satellites, which can detect changes to infrastructure.

The United Nations said that up to 6.8 million of Venezuela's nearly 30 million residents may be affected, which could mean being displaced or losing access to essential services such as electricity and water.

Because of the chaos and poor telephone service, many Venezuelans have turned to non-governmental digital databases to report their loved ones as missing.

More than 50,000 people were reported missing on one such database, though it is unclear how many have been found.

Some quake-impacted areas in Venezuela have yet to receive government aid to help with rescue and recovery efforts, according to residents in some hard-hit towns.

In El Junquito, a small mountainous region about 33km west of Caracas where Venezuelans often vacation on weekends, residents say they have seen few public officials, while farmers and other residents have been providing basic supplies to the community.

"We are waiting for answers, for debris to be cleaned up, for inspections, for people who have been really affected to be helped," Keily Ibarra, a 33-year-old manicurist leading citizen complaints to authorities

said.

Ms Ibarra called on the government to do "what needs to be done."

El Junquito's commercial centre was largely destroyed by the quakes, with collapsed buildings visible during a visit to the areas by Reuters.

Several residents with nowhere else to go have set up tents in an open field, despite the risk posed by damaged and collapsed buildings nearby.

"We don't know where we are going to be located or how long we are going to be here," Tony Abreu, a local sweet shop owner who has been living in a tent since the quakes, said.

AP/Reuters