Officials said hundreds were killed or injured after two powerful quakes struck near Caracas.
LA GUAIRA, VENEZUELA— Rescue crews, volunteers and relatives searched through collapsed buildings Thursday after two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, killing at least 235 people and injuring thousands near Caracas and along the country’s Caribbean coast.
The disaster has become Venezuela’s deadliest earthquake crisis in more than a century, with the worst damage reported in La Guaira and nearby communities that sit between the capital and the sea. Authorities said many people remained missing, hospitals were crowded with the injured and emergency teams were trying to reach survivors trapped under concrete, steel and broken masonry. The government declared a state of emergency as foreign rescue teams and aid groups moved to join local crews.
The first quake struck Wednesday evening west of Caracas, followed less than a minute later by a stronger tremor. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quakes at about magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, making them among the strongest recorded in Venezuela since 1900. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez called the disaster a “true tragedy” and said the government was focused on rescuing people still alive under the rubble. In Caracas, residents fled apartment towers and office buildings as windows shattered and walls cracked. Along the coast, the shaking brought down older buildings, blocked roads and cut power in several areas as families spent the night outside.
La Guaira, a dense coastal state north of Caracas, appeared to take the heaviest blow. Officials reported collapsed homes, damaged apartment blocks and injuries near the Caracas-La Guaira highway, a key route linking the capital to the coast and the country’s main airport. Rescue workers used dogs, listening devices and hand tools to search voids inside flattened buildings. In some neighborhoods, residents dug with buckets and their bare hands while waiting for heavy equipment. Health officials said thousands were wounded, with many treated for broken bones, crush injuries, cuts and breathing problems caused by dust. The number of people still trapped was not clear, and officials said the toll could rise as crews reached more buildings.
The quakes also hit a country already strained by years of economic crisis, migration and weak public services. Several hospitals were damaged or overwhelmed, and emergency workers moved patients into safer areas while checking buildings for cracks. Reports from Caracas described people sleeping in plazas, parking lots and sidewalks because aftershocks made them afraid to return indoors. Maiquetía, the international airport serving Caracas, reported damage that complicated the arrival of some aid and rescue teams. Telecommunications companies loosened limits on service so families could search for missing relatives and share locations of people believed to be trapped.
Venezuelan officials said schools and nonessential services were suspended while engineers inspected public buildings, bridges and hospitals. Civil protection teams were sent to La Guaira, Caracas, Carabobo and other affected areas, while police and soldiers helped clear streets for ambulances. The government said it was coordinating with foreign governments and international aid groups for search teams, medical supplies, field hospitals and temporary shelter. The United States, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador and humanitarian organizations were among those offering help. Officials said the next phase would focus on finding survivors, stabilizing damaged buildings and restoring roads, power and hospital operations.
Scenes across the disaster zone showed the search turning deeply personal. Families stood beside piles of concrete, calling names and holding photos on phones as crews asked for silence to listen for tapping or voices. In La Guaira, one man told reporters that a relative was pinned under slabs and that neighbors had no machinery to reach him. Others carried water, medicine and food toward the coast on foot as traffic stalled and emergency vehicles moved through damaged streets. Opposition leader María Corina Machado called for unity as families waited for news, saying the rescue effort had to rise above politics.
The first 72 hours after the quakes are expected to shape the rescue outcome, officials and aid workers said. By Thursday evening, crews were still searching collapsed buildings, hospitals were treating waves of injured residents and authorities were preparing updated damage reports from the hardest-hit coastal communities.
Author note: Last updated June 25, 2026.