Twin earthquakes that devastated Venezuela last month caused at least US$19.6 billion in direct physical damage, the World Bank said in an estimate on Thursday, stressing the need for a rapid increase in public reconstruction funding to avoid lasting economic effects.

At least 5,398 people were killed in the June 24 earthquakes, with hundreds of buildings destroyed, particularly in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira in the country's coastal north.

At least 16,740 people were injured, and unofficial estimates put the number still missing in the thousands. The United Nations estimates more than a million people are in need of immediate humanitarian aid.

The World Bank's assessment focused only on damage to buildings and infrastructure.

Direct damage to residential buildings came in at almost half of the assessed total at US$9.3 billion.

Non-residential buildings suffered US$5 billion in damage and infrastructure faced US$5.2 billion in losses, with dozens of hospitals and hundreds of schools badly damaged.

An early UN damage assessment, released about a week after the quakes, estimated direct physical damage from the disaster was far higher, putting it at US$37 billion.

La Guaira and the district encompassing the capital Caracas were the hardest hit, accounting for roughly half of all damage, according to the World Bank. In La Guaira, the Bank estimated one in five homes was destroyed.

The pace of reconstruction will "be a decisive factor in shaping the country's economic recovery and social outcomes," the World Bank said in a statement.

Current levels of private and public investment would see reconstruction take more than a decade, it said, calling for Caracas to rapidly increase public funding.

The World Bank's assessment of reconstruction costs comes to roughly 18 percent of the country's current GDP, according to International Monetary Fund data.

Oil-rich Venezuela has struggled for years with widespread poverty due to economic mismanagement and intense pressure from the United States and its allies. (AFP)


Edited by Aaron Tam