Earthquakes in Venezuela caused $6.7 billion in damages: UN assessed the scale of destruction
Destructive earthquakes that occurred this week in Venezuela damaged about 1.7 million buildings and caused direct economic losses amounting to $6.7 billion. Bloomberg reports.
The preliminary assessment of the consequences was published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to its data, direct losses are equivalent to approximately 6% of the combined gross domestic product of the five most affected states of the country, including the capital Caracas and the Yaracuy state, where the epicenter of the disaster was located.
Experts emphasize that the overall economic impact may be significantly greater. When indirect losses are taken into account, their volume could exceed the preliminary estimate by almost three times.
The effects of the earthquakes affected about 8.6 million people. The northern regions of Venezuela suffered the greatest destruction. Of approximately 1.7 million damaged buildings, more than 1.2 million are located in areas with strong underground tremors, and about 5 thousand objects are in zones with very high seismic activity intensity.
As Bloomberg notes, as of Friday morning, nearly 600 deaths were officially reported, while Reuters reports that the death toll has already exceeded 900 people. About three thousand people were injured. In addition, seismologists recorded more than 200 aftershocks following the main tremors.
The UN warns that the disaster may significantly complicate Venezuela's economic recovery, which was already in a difficult financial situation.
After the change of power in January, which occurred following a US operation to capture President Nicolas Maduro, the government of Delcy Rodriguez focused on increasing oil production and attracting foreign investors.
Although the oil industry was not seriously affected by the earthquakes, economists predict that the disaster's consequences will negatively impact the pace of economic recovery. The financial markets' reaction is already noticeable: in the last two trading sessions, Venezuela's dollar bonds sharply declined in value, with the price of the most liquid papers dropping to 48 cents per dollar — the lowest level since April.
Recall that on June 24, Venezuela was shaken by two powerful earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.1 and 7.5. The country's capital — Caracas — suffered significant destruction.
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