Venezuela's La Guaira port reopens to deliver earthquake aid, US military says

Venezuela's La Guaira port is now "operational" after undergoing repairs and is being used to deliver aid to the earthquake-hit South American country, the US military said on Monday.

Devastating back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck near Venezuela's Caribbean coast last week, collapsing buildings, damaging the country's main airport and leaving more than 1,700 people dead and tens of thousands missing.

The port -- one of Venezuela's two main ports -- "is now operational, and the USS Fort Lauderdale is using the port to deliver critically needed supplies and equipment to Venezuela," US Southern Command said in a statement, referring to a US warship dispatched to assist with aid efforts.

Earlier on Monday, a senior US administration official told journalists that a "specialised team of Marines" was "working around the clock" to repair the port.

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The US State Department also announced that Washington has pledged more than $300 million in funding to aid Venezuela, up from a previous commitment of $150 million.

"These funds will provide emergency medical care, food assistance, water and sanitation, shelter, protection, and logistics," the State Department said in a statement.

The money is being directed through partner organizations including Samaritan's Purse, Catholic Relief Services, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Programme and the Red Cross, the statement said.

Washington has also deployed four urban search-and-rescue teams to Venezuela that are made up of more than 300 first responders and almost two dozen search dogs, it added.

Infrastructure damage

"Approximately 58,870 buildings were likely damaged or destroyed across the affected region" based on satellite radar data gathered on June 25, the day after the earthquakes, according to researchers Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.

The duo were citing data from the European Space Agency's high-resolution radar imagery satellite Sentinel-1.

"This is a preliminary, rapid assessment. It reflects abrupt surface change consistent with damage," the researchers wrote, adding that the figure should only be read as an indicator and was not verified on the ground.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez reported on Monday that 855 buildings have been damaged, including 189 "total collapses."

NASA said that its satellites were "providing critical support, capturing imagery and data to help teams on the ground assess impacts and guide response efforts."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)