Death toll in Venezuela earthquakes surpasses 4,300

On a visit to Catia la Mar on Friday, Xinhua found soldiers from Venezuela's Bolivarian National Armed Forces pitching 36 tents on a university campus — each one meant for a different family of up to six.

After powerful twin earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela and destroyed their home in the coastal town of Caraballeda last month, Maria and her brother Damian, 13, were taken in by their aunt, Mercedes Osul.

The official tally of injured remained unchanged at 16,740, while 6,462 people have been rescued and about 17,000 have been left homeless.

The stronger 7.5 magnitude quake – the biggest in Venezuela in over a century – struck 39 seconds after the first 7.2 magnitude shock, flattening entire high-rise apartment blocks to layers of rubble.