CARACAS, June 28. /TASS/. The final death toll of the earthquake that struck Venezuela earlier this week and has already been named as the country’s most devastating, will be counted in tens of thousands, Globovision journalist Juan Barreto said.

"Practically almost immediately after the June 24 earthquake we headed to the coastal state of La Guaira, which is approximately 30 km away from Caracas and was the hardest-hit by the earthquake. We saw an awful picture of collapsed high-rise buildings," Barreto told a TASS correspondent.

"Official bulletins put the death toll at 1,430, but they are constantly being updated," he said. "We saw an enormous amount of destroyed buildings in La Guaira, where the rescue effort is now under way, and so the death toll will be counted in thousands, even in tens of thousands."

He said that foreign rescue teams have already joined the rescue and recovery effort.

The earthquake struck Venezuela on the evening of June 24, with two tremors measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude occurring approximately 40 seconds apart. Their epicenters were located just 10 kilometers apart in the state of Yaracuy. The seismic event was followed by 214 aftershocks. According to the latest reports, over 1,400 people have lost their lives, and more than 3,200 have sustained injuries in the aftermath of the quake.