Two back-to-back earthquakes ripped through northern Venezuela, killing at least 164 people, triggering massive structural collapse, and severely crippling the nation’s infrastructure.
CARACAS, June 25 — Two massive earthquakes obliterated parts of northern Venezuela in under a minute on Wednesday, leaving at least 164 people dead. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 7.2-magnitude tremor at 6:04 p.m. local time, followed exactly 39 seconds later by a brutal 7.5-magnitude mainshock. It’s a rare seismic doublet. The back-to-back quakes unleashed horrific damage across the coastal region of La Guaira, triggering building evacuations as far away as the Brazilian Amazon.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared La Guaira a disaster zone early Thursday. Rescue teams are desperately pulling bodies from the rubble. They can’t pinpoint an exact number of casualties just yet, though early crowd-sourced data from disaster-tracking platforms suggests thousands remain unaccounted for. But how long can a fragile state machinery sustain a massive, coordinated search-and-rescue operation?
Workers won’t easily repair the sheer scale of destruction. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello ordered citizens to sleep in the streets to avoid collapsing masonry, as more than 30 aftershocks rocked the capital overnight. The largest registered a 4.5 magnitude, according to the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences. Families simply huddled on the pavement, clinging to their pets as thick concrete dust coated the city blocks, Associated Press reporters observed on the ground.
Critical infrastructure didn’t survive the initial impact. Simón Bolívar International Airport sustained severe structural failures, forcing officials to immediately close the nation’s primary aviation hub. Authorities suspended the Caracas subway system entirely. And they’ve shut off the natural gas grids across several municipalities to prevent catastrophic firestorms.
The Ministry of Education cancelled all classes for the foreseeable future. Instead, administrators are turning surviving school buildings into makeshift trauma centres and donation hubs. Venezuela’s hospitals already face immense strain under the sudden influx of over 971 injured patients, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported.
The earth hasn’t shaken this violently here in over a century.
Foreign leaders aren’t waiting for the dust to settle. Pope Leo XIV wired an initial €100,000 emergency fund through the Apostolic Almonry on Thursday. The United States, France, Brazil, and several neighbouring governments issued formal offers of assistance, with French President Emmanuel Macron pledging solidarity online.
GThis dual shock strikes a nation already hollowed out by years of economic turmoil. Daniel Aldrich, a disaster resilience expert at Northeastern University, noted that Venezuela previously maintained robust building standards. They’ve lost that financial cushion today. So as heavy machinery finally reaches the shattered neighbourhoods of Carabobo, the true human cost of this disaster will inevitably surge.
