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.

Ms. 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 National 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.

“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.

During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings. Many were stunned Thursday (June 25, 2026) morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.

“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, said she was desperate because her 8-year-old son was missing. Delgado asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbors were the ones digging through the rubble.

“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said.

Authorities warned people against returning to homes with structural damage. In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said María Cristina Díaz, a 41-year-old janitor. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t sleep a wink.”

Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone service, Ms. Rodríguez said. Subway services were suspended and natural gas was shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.

Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for. Venezuelans living abroad struggled to make contact with relatives.

Shortly after U.N. officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Mr. Maduro since August 2024, in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.

Ms. Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.

Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Canada and more expressed solidarity with and vowed to send aid to Venezuela. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday (June 25, 2026). Aid included emergency and military personnel, canine and search teams, medical supplies, water purifiers, airplanes and drones.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Ms. Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States was “immediately” deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources other assistance, though he acknowledged the closure of Venezuela’s main airport created logistical challenges.

“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big; it’ll be fast; and it’ll be effective,” Mr. Rubio said.

Nearly 24 hours after devastating ​twin earthquakes in Venezuela, people in the coastal city of La Guaira were still using their hands to dig through ‌rubble, trying to rescue their neighbors.

“We are trying to help with what we can, ​but there is a lack of equipment,” said Carlos Borges, who said he was frustrated ⁠by the shortage of machinery like backhoes to move the piles of concrete slabs that were once high-rise apartment buildings.

His team pulled three people from one building, as other anxious family members, including the single mother of a missing teenage boy, waited ‌at the site on Thursday (June 25, 2026) morning. U.S. Geological Survey models suggested deaths could exceed 10,000 after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around the capital Caracas on Wednesday. The government of acting ‌President Delcy Rodriguez has confirmed nearly 200 dead and 1,520 injured.

Residents of La Guaira, a popular spot ‌for ⁠beachgoers and the worst-hit city in the country, and Moron, near the quakes’ epicenter, were scrambling ⁠amid limited official help.

“Is it not possible to call in the military? Everyone come, come and pitch in. Put them in an armored vehicle and come help the people. Find tractors wherever you can,” said Argenis Martinez, a resident of La Guaira’s Los Corales neighborhood, who ​was looking for a relative among the ‌rubble.

Some rubble caught fire overnight, despite a cut to domestic gas service. Terrified residents, many with nowhere else to go, huddled in the streets or peered into destroyed buildings, looking for survivors.

The government, which said 250 buildings had been damaged or destroyed, mainly in La Guaira, has said aid is on the way ‌from Spain, the United States, Mexico and Qatar and called on the private sector to lend equipment ​like backhoes to help with rescue efforts.

At other places in La Guaira, neighbors pulled two dead people from a house, including a little girl, and saved a mother and two ⁠children, injured but alive, from a destroyed apartment building.

Reuters witnesses saw members of a colectivo — ruling party-allied motorcycle groups who have long been accused of abusing protesters at anti-government rallies — assisting rescue efforts at at least one location.

“My building is ‌uninhabitable and now I have nothing. It’s just me and my son, and I have no family in the country,” said Suhayl Sarquiz, 50, who lost her job a few months ago.

Looting at stores

In some areas of La Guaira, people were looking for food and water, and a Reuters team witnessed looting at at least two stores.

The city’s Jose Maria Vargas Hospital was overflowing with injured, and some patients were being tended to outside, where police were limiting access to the building. Officials there said they had no information for journalists.

“It’s a tragedy,” ‌said Beatriz Rodriguez, 60, whose nephew’s legs were amputated at the hospital after being crushed in the quakes. Another nephew, age 6, ​was killed.

The armed forces are deploying field hospitals to La Guaira, its command said in a press release, and will be able to perform emergency surgeries. A Reuters team in ⁠the city on Thursday saw a military convoy near the local stadium carrying out aid efforts.

Hospitals elsewhere were also struggling.

As ⁠he worked through a 24-hour emergency shift at the modest hospital in Moron, Dr. Augusto Ramirez found himself short of basic supplies.

“We need blood pressure monitors, gauze, thermometers, gloves, plaster, painkillers — everything,” Ramirez ‌told Reuters.

He, two fellow doctors and other staff had treated 112 people since the quakes collapsed houses and cut off electricity and water in the town. Nine have died from skull fractures and other injuries, including ​three children. 

Published – June 26, 2026 04:57 am IST