RismadarVoice Reporters, June 25, 2026
Not fewer than 164 people have been killed and roughly 1,000 others injured after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela in quick succession overnight, authorities said Thursday, with officials warning that the death toll is likely to rise as rescue crews continue digging through rubble.
The earthquakes hit during a national holiday, when many Venezuelans were at home rather than at work or school. The timing appears to have compounded the human toll, as residential buildings bore much of the damage.
Images from the disaster zone showed multi-story structures reduced to rubble and roads buckled or completely collapsed across Caracas and the surrounding region. The coastal area of La Guaira was reported to be among the hardest-hit locations.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in the aftermath of the quakes. Speaking on state television, she announced that Caracas’s main airport had been shut down, train service suspended, and schools closed for several days as the government redirects resources toward rescue and recovery efforts.
Search and rescue teams have been working through the night and into the day, attempting to locate survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings. The scale of the destruction has made the operation slow and difficult, and officials have not said when they expect search efforts to conclude.
The disaster has prompted a wave of international offers of assistance. The United States said it was moving immediately to send search and rescue teams, medical personnel and humanitarian supplies to Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the American response would be “big,” “fast” and “effective,” though he did not provide further details on the scope or timeline of the aid.
It remains unclear how many additional countries or international organisations have offered support, or how quickly aid will reach the affected areas given the damage to transportation infrastructure, including the closure of the Caracas airport.
