More than a month after twin earthquakes killed over 5,000 Venezuelans, families sleeping outside condemned homes are breathing toxic dust, drinking untreated water, and falling ill while searching for loved ones still buried beneath 1.2 million tons of rubble. The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes that struck on June 24 didn't just destroy buildings — they created conditions for a slow-motion public health catastrophe that experts warn could claim more lives in the coming weeks.
Mary Cruz Andueza, 35, has spent weeks near the collapsed tower where her mother lived, part of a government housing program launched under late President Hugo Chávez. "I don't know if she's alive, if she's dead, if she's in a hospital or still beneath the rubble," she said. The search made her sick. "The dust made me seriously ill," Andueza said. "We've had coughs, allergies, fever and headaches because we're working so close to the collapsed buildings every day."
Heavy machinery still echoes through La Guaira's hardest-hit neighborhoods on the northern coast, where dust from collapsed buildings hangs in humid air, garbage has piled up, and water trucks weave through damaged streets. Government figures say the quakes injured nearly 17,000 people and left almost 18,000 homeless. Authorities haven't said how many remain missing, though estimates put the figure in the tens of thousands. The World Bank estimates the quakes caused $19.6 billion in direct physical damage.
Toxic Debris and Contaminated Water
Managing the estimated 1.2 million tons of debris has become a major environmental challenge. Much of the rubble's contaminated with fuels, motor oil, paints, solvents, plastics and other hazardous materials released when buildings fell. Authorities are separating contaminated debris from reusable material, but Joaquín Benítez, director of Environmental Sustainability at Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, said contaminated material — including asbestos, chemicals, fuel residues and other hazardous waste — will need specialized disposal facilities.
Benítez said he'd seen reports that some debris may have been dumped along the coast or into the sea during the initial emergency response as authorities raced to clear blocked roads. Local journalists said the practice was halted after the first few days. If debris containing fuels or other hazardous materials reaches coastal waters, contaminants could affect water quality and marine ecosystems.
Access to safe drinking water has become one of the biggest challenges. Even where tanker trucks are supplying communities, Carolina de Jesús, Venezuela project director for the humanitarian organization Project HOPE, said that doesn't necessarily mean the water's been properly treated. She's spent nearly every day in the region since the quakes. "The smell of corpses is very strong" in some neighborhoods, de Jesús said, describing "hope, but also enormous pressure over what will happen tomorrow."
Disease Surveillance in Overcrowded Shelters
Unsafe water and inadequate sanitation are contributing to diarrheal diseases, urinary tract infections, skin infections and conditions that allow mosquito-borne diseases to spread, de Jesús said. Dr. Mauricio Cerpa, an epidemiologist with the Pan American Health Organization's Emergency Operations Center, said authorities have identified 18 priority diseases and public health issues requiring immediate notification, including diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, dengue, malaria and measles.
"Earthquakes do not cause outbreaks by themselves," Cerpa said. "The risk comes from the post-disaster conditions." He said overcrowded shelters, disrupted water and sanitation systems, interrupted healthcare and reduced vaccination coverage create the conditions in which disease can spread. Venezuela's vaccination coverage had already fallen below recommended levels before the earthquakes, increasing concerns about crowded conditions.
Health officials said disease surveillance in temporary shelters has become an immediate priority. PAHO said health teams are supporting vaccination campaigns and improving water and sanitation conditions. Cerpa said thousands of people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension could face increasing risks if health services remain disrupted.
Overwhelmed Relief Workers
Thousands of volunteers and humanitarian workers have joined relief efforts amid criticism of the speed and coordination of the official response. De Jesús said some have developed respiratory illnesses after weeks of breathing silica and cement dust released as collapsed buildings are cleared. Others have suffered dehydration and diarrheal illnesses during long days in the heat.
Diego Díaz Martín, president of environmental organization Vitalis, said seasonal rains could trigger landslides on earthquake-weakened hillsides. He also warned that damage to sensitive ecosystems may remain undetected because many affected areas have yet to be assessed. Martín said the recovery effort should include work to reduce future environmental risks, and called on authorities to rebuild outside landslide-prone areas.
Cerpa said, "One of the main challenges is how to recover all the essential care," noting that hospitals must resume treatment for people with chronic illnesses while meeting growing demand for disease surveillance, mental health services and maternal care. Alycia Clark, Direct Relief's vice president and chief pharmacy officer, said the earthquakes compounded longstanding shortages of medicines, healthcare workers and medical infrastructure, leaving many patients at risk of missing routine care. "The needs are only going to increase from this point forward," Clark said.
The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to questions about its response to the environmental and public health impacts of the earthquake.
Why This Matters:
The Venezuela earthquake aftermath reveals how natural disasters compound existing public health and infrastructure failures, hitting the most vulnerable hardest. Families who lost loved ones are now losing their health to toxic dust and contaminated water — preventable harms that require immediate government action on water treatment, debris management, and disease surveillance. The crisis exposes the consequences of inadequate vaccination coverage and healthcare infrastructure that was already failing before the quakes struck. Without coordinated public health intervention, safe water delivery, and proper hazardous waste disposal, the death toll will continue rising not from the earthquake itself, but from the preventable diseases and environmental contamination that follow. Thousands with chronic illnesses face life-threatening disruptions to routine care, while relief workers themselves are falling ill. The government's silence on its response plan leaves humanitarian organizations and survivors to manage a crisis that demands urgent institutional coordination and resources.