Venezuelan Rescuers Hunt for Survivors in Rubble as Quake Death Toll Reaches 235
Rescue teams dug through collapsed buildings in Caracas and the coastal city of La Guaira on Friday after two powerful earthquakes killed at least 235 people and injured more than 1,500 others two days earlier, according to Venezuelan officials who warned the figure would likely increase. The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes struck at 18:04 local time on June 24 during a national holiday when more residents were at home, levelling structures across multiple states and closing the main international airport at Maiquetía, the interim government reported. International assistance has begun to arrive with the United States committing $150 million in aid and deploying search-and-rescue teams while neighbouring countries and Qatar pledged additional support.
The US Geological Survey located the first tremor at a depth of 20.3 kilometres and the second at 10 kilometres, both shallow events that amplified destruction in a country positioned at the boundary of the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates. At least 30 aftershocks have followed the initial pair, according to interim President Delcy Rodríguez who spoke on state-run television, forcing many survivors to sleep in streets rather than risk returning to damaged homes. Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, stated on Thursday that 250 buildings had been damaged or destroyed, most of them in La Guaira where verified video showed a 10-storey hotel reduced to rubble.
In the Caracas municipality of Chacao Mayor Gustavo Duque reported that one ruined building alone accounted for 11 deaths with 23 people rescued so far as crews worked to clear debris for specialist teams. “We’re trying to rescue as many people alive as possible,” Duque said in a video posted to social media. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello identified the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes neighbourhoods as among the worst affected, a pattern that mirrors damage from the last major Caracas earthquake in 1967 which killed around 200 people according to USGS historical data.
A medical student in Caracas named Juan Ortiz told the BBC that one close friend had been confirmed dead, a second was believed trapped under rubble and around 20 acquaintances who lived in the coastal area remained missing. “I’m in shock and confusion, and frustrated that I can’t help,” Ortiz said. Caracas-based journalist Luis Hernandez told BBC Newsday that power cuts and internet failures had made it difficult to gauge the full scale of destruction, adding “Due to the economic crisis in the country, it is very difficult for us to assess.”
The USGS warned that “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread” while issuing preliminary estimates that included a 42 percent chance of more than 10,000 deaths though those projections serve only as planning tools based on prior similar events, population density and building quality. Opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote on X “My heart, my infinite embrace, and my prayers are with every Venezuelan home in these hours of anguish.” President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social that the earthquakes “have left a devastating number of deaths” and that the United States “stands ready, willing and able to help!”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian assistance” as the disaster tests the improved bilateral relationship that followed the January capture of former President Nicolás Maduro and the US decision to back interim leader Delcy Rodríguez. The quakes represent the strongest to strike Venezuela since 1900 according to USGS records and have prompted a state of emergency that will shape the coordination of incoming international aid over the coming weeks.
