Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands Friday (June 26, 2026) in the aftermath of back-to-back earthquakes, citing the scarcity of government rescuers, as the human toll of the disaster climbed to at least 920 dead and more than 51,000 missing.
Citizens digging through the rubble of their homes said they have seen few state rescue teams in the areas hit hardest by the devastating 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes that struck late Wednesday (June 24, 2026), despite authorities projecting an image of a robust government response.
Editorial |Tragic evening: On the earthquake in Venezuela
The lack of help compounded families’ desperation as the pressure to find buried survivors increased with each passing hour. The South American nation on Friday (June 26, 2026) marked nearly two days since the disaster. Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours to be a crucial time frame to retrieve people alive, though that period can be extended if they have access to food and water.
On Friday (June 26, 2026) night, Venezuelan authorities announced they would block off access to La Guaira, the epicenter of the destruction, as chaos and and traffic began to affect search efforts. Government officials said that those who wanted to enter would now have to seek official permits, but provided few details of who would be allowed to enter.
Residents walks through the rubble two days after earthquakes struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, on June 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Meanwhile, a broad international aid effort accelerated, with dozens of rescue teams from around the globe arriving in Venezuela or due to arrive there soon.
“Each person saved is a miracle,” said Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the country’s National Assembly. “We are not going to hide absolutely anything about the magnitude of this tragedy.”
Families across northern Venezuela searched in the ruins of buildings for relatives and whatever remained of their lives.
Nazareth Jimenez sobbed into the shoulder of a loved one as she watched neighbors try to cut through slabs of concrete with hammers and power tools in a building reduced to a mountain of debris. “My God, how are we going to get them out of there?” she murmured.
She was in the northern state of La Guaira, just north of the capital of Caracas, where some of the worst destruction unfolded. Jimenez was wracked with anxiety as she waited to see if her siblings, nephews, nieces and friends would emerge from the debris alive.
“We’re making a call for help to the government and countries across the world,” she said, pleading for machines that would be capable of moving collapsed structures. “There are still people alive in there.”
Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble two days after earthquakes struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, on June 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Government forces distributed food and water to survivors in La Guaira as acting President Delcy Rodríguez said her government was mounting a full response during these “critical hours for rescuing people alive.” She welcomed the arrival of rescuers and humanitarian aid from all over the world. She said La Guaira had been militarized and that more help was on the way, even as residents said it was just a fraction of the aid they needed.
The disaster poses a huge challenge for Rodríguez, the former Vice-President who took office in January after the capture and removal of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.
The number of dead was expected to climb, and civilians reported tens of thousands of people missing on independent digital databases. The number of missing likely includes those who have been incommunicado due to the lack of cellphone signals in disaster zones. Some reports may be duplicates created when multiple loved ones are searching for the same person.
The number of injured climbed to more than 3,300 as of midday on Friday (June 26, 2026), and authorities said they had rescued 243 people.
The International Organization for Migration said that up to 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected by the quakes, some 2 million of them in Caracas alone. Destruction was amplified by the one-two punch of the successive shallow quakes, experts said. Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross’ regional director for the Americas, said “people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes.”
Desperation started to sink in Friday (June 26, 2026) as many families still had not found missing loved ones, continued to sleep on the street or grieved relatives killed in the disaster.
“I’ve been left alone in this life,” said Omar Reyes, who walked through the rubble where two of his children were buried. He said around 20 family members died in the disaster.
In the city of Maiquetía, people lined up outside convenience and grocery stores and pharmacies as the businesses served customers one by one behind closed doors. At one point, a woman in a crowd desperate to keep a package of diapers threw herself to the ground to protect the package with her body.
Traffic and throngs of motorcyclists at times also disrupted search efforts. Mexican soldiers and volunteers repeatedly had to ask for silence to try to hear signs of life under the ruble, but bikers — civilian and uniformed — often ignored the requests honking horns and revved their engines to the frustration of first responders.
In Catia La Mar, a community adjacent to the country’s main airport, throngs of people began to loot basic goods such as toilet paper and food from stores. Others swarmed a civilian pickup truck that was giving out loaves of bread and water, until a soldier intervened. People turned the parking lot of a pharmacy into makeshift shelter by setting up tarps, hammocks and tents.
A few miles away, Yuleidy Cadenas stood across the street from a collapsed public housing building watching fellow Venezuelans and recently arrived foreign and local emergency crews work on the rubble. She hoped her son, mother and brother would be pulled out alive.
She fled, barefoot, from a collapsing nearby building Wednesday (June 24, 2026) and found her mother’s 12th-floor apartment tower had pancaked. Cadenas, 28, sobbed as she recalled that Friday (June 26, 2026) was her son’s 12th birthday.
“I got on top of the rubble and told them to yell back, and nobody did, not my brother, nor my son or my mother,” Ms. Cadenas said. “I’m just here waiting for them.”
A few minutes later, a body was pulled from the rubble. It was not her mother’s.
Venezuela authorities said Friday (June 26, 2026) that 861 international volunteers from Mexico, the U.S., El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia and beyond were working in Venezuela. Many more from other countries were expected in the coming hours and days. The U.N. said 1,000 emergency responders in 25 search-and-rescue teams from across the globe were on their way.
Acting President Ms. Rodríguez said she spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday afternoon, and that they reaffirmed their commitment to sending rescue teams and aid equipment.
On the country’s main highway, caravans of state forces, emergency personnel, dump trucks and heavy machinery moved in the direction of the tragedy. A civilian pickup truck carrying thin mattresses had its windows marked with “Help from Trujillo.”
