Venezuela earthquakes kill 589 as global rescue teams race for survivors

Laguaira,UPDATED: Jun 26, 2026 18:24 IST

At least 589 people were killed and thousands were injured after two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on Wednesday evening, with frantic rescue efforts continuing through Friday as many more remain missing. Acting President Delcy Rodrguez announced the updated toll as rescue teams from around the world began arriving, while neighbours in several cities dug through rubble in search of loved ones.

Rodrguez said La Guaira state was the worst hit by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes and had been militarised as crews searched for survivors and distributed food and water. The number of casualties is expected to rise. The Organisation for Migration said up to 6.76 million people in Venezuela could be affected, including about 2 million in Caracas alone, while Loyce Pace, the Red Cross's regional director for the Americas, said "people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes."

"We are going to rescue the people who are trapped," Rodrguez said. "We are working tirelessly on this task." State television showed injured people, including children, being pulled out covered in dust and blood. It also broadcast dramatic rescues, including a woman trapped under a cement slab with only a bare foot visible before rescuers pulled her out alive. But few government search teams were initially seen outside Caracas.

Across the capital and other affected areas, people woke to scenes of severe destruction, with buildings reduced to shells, furniture hanging from windows, cracked roads and helicopters overhead. Families put up missing-person posters and handwritten lists of names, while Venezuelans living abroad struggled to contact relatives because of disrupted phone services. In central Caracas, hundreds spent the night in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.

Residents said they had been forced to begin rescue work themselves. Dayana Delgado, a mother of three, asked where the heavy machinery promised by the authorities was. "I want to know where my child is, if he's trapped or in a shelter," she said of her missing eight-year-old son. One mother collapsed in grief as the bodies of her three-year-old and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and taken away. Others shouted the names of missing relatives, while some stood in silent shock.

Authorities said rescue teams from other parts of the country were being diverted to La Guaira, a state that suffered one of Venezuela's worst natural disasters when a mudslide killed thousands in 1999. There, Cristian Carreo looked at his charred apartment building, which was tilting to one side. "I lost everything," he said. "There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn't get out. It's incredibly devastating." Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendao climbed through wreckage and past a dead body when he saw a woman trapped and signalling for help. "May God rescue her as quickly as possible," Mendao said. "When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do."

There were also moments of relief among the destruction. Media reports said a young man was brought out on a stretcher in Caracas's San Bernardino district to applause, as his tearful mother said, "Leandro, I love you." Public television also showed a girl, covered in dust and wrapping herself in a dark sweatshirt, emerging from rubble with rescuers' help. Caracas metropolitan rescue team head Jos Luis Nez said she was found in a 10-storey building in La Guaira that collapsed and flattened "like a pancake". "We want to highlight this girl's strength, determination and will to live," Nez said.

The disaster is the latest challenge for Rodrguez, the former vice president who became acting president in January after then president Nicols Maduro was captured and removed from power by the United States. Venezuela has faced economic disorder for more than a decade, and many reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodrguez represents. Late on Wednesday, she declared a state of emergency and said the government was creating a USD 200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes. On Thursday, she appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, saying, "We hope to rescue as many living people as possible."

The US Geological Survey said both earthquakes were centred near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometres west of Caracas. Although Venezuela lies near several fault lines, strong earthquakes are less common there than in other parts of Latin America because of its position between the South American and Caribbean plates. Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil, said the two quakes and their shallow movements worsened the damage. "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.

After United Nations officials in Venezuela urged the government to lift social media restrictions so people could get potentially life-saving information, users in the country were again able to access X. The platform had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an effort to curb the exchange of information among people who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.

assistance began arriving as the scale of the disaster became clearer. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said about 1,000 emergency responders in 25 search-and-rescue teams from around the world were being deployed to Venezuela. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodrguez after the quake, said the United States was sending immediate assistance. "We have a whole-of-government response. It'll be big; it'll be fast; and it'll be effective," Rubio said, while noting that the closure of Venezuela's main airport near Caracas had created logistical challenges.

On Friday, Venezuelan public television showed rescuers from Spain arriving with dogs and equipment including cameras and ground-penetrating radar. Teams from Germany, Chile and Switzerland also landed, while Turkiye said two flights carrying rescuers and two search dogs would leave Istanbul on Friday. China said it would provide assistance, and leaders from Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada also pledged help. Teams from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic reached Venezuela on Thursday, along with rescuers and relief supplies from Mexico. "No country is prepared to provide the response that's needed. That's what neighbouring countries are there for," Dominican air force Major Carlos Olivares said.

With thousands still missing and rescue work under way in the worst-hit areas, Venezuela is facing a widening humanitarian emergency after the twin earthquakes. The government has promised a full rescue effort and reconstruction support, while local residents and international teams continue searching through the rubble for survivors.

With PTI Inputs

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