Death toll in Venezuela earthquakes rise as people look for missing

The death toll from the two devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday has risen to 1,430, with more than 3,200 people injured and at least 68,000 still missing.

This as hospitals in Caracas and neighbouring La Guaira are overwhelmed with casualties, as desperate families move from one facility to another in search of missing loved ones.

The entrance of the morgue in Caracas. People looking for missing loved ones arrive at the morgue where bodies recovered from collapsed buildings were left outdoors in temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius.

Electrician Ernesto Rojas said, "I was five hours under the rubble. We (he and his wife) talked for the first hour until she fell silent, she spoke to me no more. I got really desperate. I screamed so much. I think that was what saved me."

An estimated 3.9 million children live in the areas affected by the two earthquakes that hit Venezuela on June 24.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell sent her condolences and added "As the scale of the damage becomes clearer children's safety, protection and well-being must remain at the centre of the response. Children are the most vulnerable when disasters strike."

Pope Leo said he and the entire college of cardinals are praying for Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes.

He said, "We assure the victims, their families and all those suffering the consequences of this tragedy of our prayers. We also entrust to the Lord all those engaged in relief efforts and ask that the international community's solidarity with that beloved nation not waver."

Venezuela's deadly 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes happened on a fault similar to the San Andreas and the risks aren't over yet, according to University of Southern California geophysicist Sylvian Barbot.

He said, "Earthquakes are natural phenomena that typically happen at the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates. These plates, which make up the Earth's crust, are tens of miles thick and carry the oceans and continents. They are slow moving but not in a smooth consistent way.

Venezuela sits along the boundary between two of these plates. The South American plate and the Caribbean plate. As they slide past each other, these plates can stick, building up resistance before eventually having a catastrophic failure that generates an earthquake."