Rescue and recovery efforts continue in a race against time across quake-stricken northern Venezuela after massive temblors struck the area on Wednesday, causing devastation especially in the cities and towns of La Guaira state.

Acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Friday said the death toll has risen to 589 and is expected to climb, especially as the window of opportunity to rescue survivors closes.

Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Venezuela are among the Church agencies already responding on the ground and working to assess both immediate and ongoing needs.

The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Los Angeles, has called for international solidarity in the wake of the tremors.

“As rescue efforts are underway,” Zaidan said in a statement on Thursday, “I urge the international community to mobilize in support of the Venezuelan people, and to send the necessary humanitarian assistance to alleviate their suffering.”

The United States, which ousted Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro from power earlier this year, has already announced an emergency relief package that includes two specialized urban search and rescue teams focused on locating and reaching survivors.

The U.S. also says it is helping coordinate assistance with various public and private partners including CRS, the International Organization for Migration, and the UN’s World Food Program.

In addition, the U.S. State Department says U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized a $100 million contribution to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Venezuela, released $50 million in other available funding, and ordered the War Department to lend logistics support.

International Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need has also announced it is opening a fund and will work closely with Church leaders in Venezuela and abroad both during the immediate relief efforts and in the long term.

Archbishop Raúl Biord Castillo of Caracas told CAN he toured affected parishes to assess the situation and confirmed that there had been fatalities in different places due to the collapse of buildings and walls.

The archbishop said the cathedral church of Caracas appeared severely damaged, along with perhaps a dozen other parish buildings.

“Communication difficulties caused by power and internet cuts still make it impossible to know the full extent of the damage,” Biord told ACN.

Other Church leaders also report widespread power outages and other disruptions across the affected areas.