Earthquake

Tens of thousands of people urgently need food and shelter in Venezuela after the two devastating earthquakes that killed more than 1,700, the UN said on Tuesday, as doctors warned of potential outbreaks of disease with survivors sleeping in the streets.Last week's 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes -- the strongest to hit the country in more than a century -- have left tens of thousands unaccounted for and prompted frantic search-and-rescue operations for survivors trapped in the rubble.The UN refugee agency said "food shortages are widespread, basic services have broken down and connectivity has been largely severed" in the port city of La Guaira -- the worst hit area north of the capital, Caracas.
"They give out supplies here, but sometimes people nearly kill each other for food...it's like a cockfight," said Daniela Armas, 18, a vendor in La Guaira who was injured falling from a motorbike during the quakes.The UN agency said it needed some $14.85 million to scale up aid and temporary shelter for 30,000 people over six months."Community tensions are rising as access to assistance remains constrained," UNHCR spokesperson Carlotta Wolf said.The quakes likely damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings, according to a preliminary assessment of satellite data published by NASA.
World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said health services in Venezuela were overstretched and under "extreme pressure" after one of the worst earthquake disasters in Latin America.