A new earthquake shook Venezuela's devastated coast on June 29, five days after twin quakes flattened entire neighbourhoods, as the death toll climbed to at least 1,450 and the window for finding survivors alive in the rubble effectively closed.

The 4.2-magnitude tremor struck at 7:01 a.m. local time about 10 km east of La Guaira, the coastal state hit hardest by the June 24 disaster, Venezuela's seismological institute Funvisis said, as reported by El Nacional. It originated at a depth of just 2.9 km. A smaller, 2.7-magnitude tremor followed roughly 18 minutes later in the same stretch of coastline, while a separate 2.7-magnitude quake had been recorded earlier on the same day near San Felipe in Yaracuy state.

The fresh shaking sent residents fleeing their homes again in an area still searching for survivors and bodies from the earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that struck on June 24, according to EFE news agency.

Rescue window closes as toll climbs

The government said on June 28 that 1,450 people had died and 3,150 had been injured, according to the latest figures cited by AP, with authorities and aid groups warning the real toll is likely far higher. The United Nations estimates more than 50,000 people remain unaccounted for, and has said the disaster could ultimately affect close to 7mn Venezuelans.

The US Geological Survey had warned in the immediate aftermath that the death toll from the two quakes could ultimately exceed 10,000, a worst-case-scenario projection that would rank them among the deadliest earthquakes in Latin America in the past hundred years.

The critical 72-hour period in which survival chances are highest has now passed, and rescue officials acknowledge the operation is shifting toward recovering bodies rather than finding people alive. Authorities said more than 770 buildings had partially or totally collapsed, more than double the number reported just two days earlier, with at least 189 buildings destroyed entirely.

Even so, rescuers have continued pulling survivors from the wreckage. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez on June 28 said that crews would keep searching despite the narrowing odds. "Today we recovered people who are still alive," she said. "We always maintain hope." More than 2,600 international rescue personnel, along with trained dogs and heavy machinery, have arrived to assist, the government said.

The president toured the facilities of Luis Garcia Carneiro Stadium in La Guaira, which is currently serving as the operations base for international rescue teams, Telesur reported.

The venue is hosting nearly 27 search, rescue and medical assistance teams made up of more than 1,000 specialists from countries including France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the United States and Colombia, among others.

Yet so far, civilian-led efforts have driven much of the rescue work throughout the crisis.

Anger grows over government response

Public frustration with the government's handling of the disaster has intensified, even as the international rescue presence has grown. According to AP, authorities have deployed more than 14,000 soldiers and police to La Guaira, where access is restricted and a special permit is now required to enter — a policy that has drawn sharp criticism from volunteers and rescuers on the ground.

With phone networks still badly disrupted, many Venezuelans have turned to independent, crowdsourced databases rather than official channels to register missing relatives; more than 50,000 names have been logged on one such platform, though it remains unclear how many of those people have since been located.

The disaster is compounding a difficult political moment for Rodríguez, who was thrust into the role of acting president in January following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US special forces. She has since gained recognition from the US government, which entrusted her with the stabilisation phase of a three-phase transition plan, and has earned repeated praise from US President Donald Trump.

Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuelan Observatory of Bogotá's University of Rosario, told AP that Venezuela was now facing the earthquake's aftermath with few resources to spare, after years of economic decline under Chavismo and growing US influence over the country's political direction in the wake of Maduro's ouster.

In a bid to showcase the government's efforts amid growing criticism of its slow response, Delcy Rodríguez announced a new commission on June 29 to inspect damaged homes and determine which are safe enough for displaced residents to reoccupy. In her address, she explained that a "traffic light" system with green, yellow, and red colours will be implemented to define the risk level of each building. Separately, she said engineers would assess the broader toll on roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

The economic toll is also mounting. Even though the quakes largely spared the country’s vital oil infrastructure, the UN has estimated material losses at $6.7bn, equivalent to roughly 6% of Venezuela's GDP. Across La Guaira, meanwhile, residents continue to clear rubble largely by hand, wary that any new aftershock could bring down what remains of the buildings still standing.