Venezuela earthquake: Venezuelans search rubble for survivors as death toll climbs to 188
Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday (June 25, 2026) and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes
Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday (June 25, 2026) and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed at least 188 people and left more than 200 trapped. More were feared dead from the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday (June 24, 2026) evening — among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and felt throughout the region. Some 1,500 people were injured, thousands were reported missing and buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon. In response to the devastation, the U.S. Treasury on Thursday (June 25, 2026) moved to waive some sanctions until Oct. 23 to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited. Meanwhile, in cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris. Injured children, animals and civilians covered in dust and blood were pulled out of concrete rubble. One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of missing loved ones. Some stood in silent shock. The coastal region of La Guaira — north of the capital, Caracas — suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties, and it’s there that the country’s main airport was damaged and closed, complicating aid efforts. Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help. “May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mendaño. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.” Offers to send aid and supplied poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.
The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Mr. Maduro's capture. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Ms. Rodriguez represents. Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters; a 1999 mudslide there, considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters, killed thousands. Rodríguez appealed to businesses Thursday (June 25, 2026) to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, while a United Nations spokesperson said search and rescue teams were just hours away. “We're here for the families, and we extend our solidarity to them. We hope to rescue as many living people as possible,” said Ms. Rodríguez, who referred to La Guaira as a “disaster zone.” Jorge Rodriguez, the president of Venezuela’s Assembly and brother of the acting president, gave updated figures for the numbers of dead, trapped and injured. While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America. The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron. The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
The BriefWire