U.S. rescue teams arrive in Venezuela after deadly twin earthquakes
An 80-member U.S. rescue team landed in Venezuela as quake tolls rose and officials raced to reach trapped survivors under collapsed buildings.
The first U.S. search-and-rescue plane landed in Venezuela on Friday carrying 80 members, including firefighters, doctors, structural engineers and rescue canines. Virginia Task Force 1 was sending 79 Urban Search and Rescue personnel, six K9 teams and more than 70,000 pounds of specialized equipment.
The earthquakes struck on Wednesday off Venezuela’s northern coast west of Caracas, with a magnitude 7.2 quake followed about 39 seconds later by a larger magnitude 7.5 event. The U.S. Geological Survey issued red PAGER alerts for both shocks, and the damage spread across Caracas, La Guaira and surrounding areas, where roads cracked and collapsed buildings blocked access to buried victims.
La Guaira emerged as the hardest-hit area, with at least 100 buildings, including high-rise apartments, down. Search crews faced limited heavy equipment, and cranes and additional machinery were urgently needed to shift slabs of concrete and reach people still trapped beneath the rubble.
The U.S. deployment began with teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles, California. More responders could be added. The crews will be sent to the hardest-hit areas and will coordinate with Venezuelan authorities to establish a base of operations. Each NIMS Type 1 urban search-and-rescue task force is built around 70 members with specialties that include medicine, logistics, planning and technical work such as structural engineering and canine searches.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified the immediate need as search and rescue after speaking with acting President Delcy Rodríguez about relief efforts. He also cited badly damaged airport conditions as the reason military support was necessary to move assets into the country. President Donald Trump authorized significant financial assistance and a rapid, government-wide response.
The death toll stood at 589 with 2,980 injured. Other counts put the toll higher, with 920 confirmed fatalities, 3,360 injuries and more than 50,000 missing-person reports. Venezuelan officials thanked the United States for its support as responders pushed into the devastated zones.
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