Venezuelans search rubble as quake death toll rises to 589

Residents in La Guaira kept digging through shattered homes and collapsed buildings, with hundreds more still unaccounted for. Families searched for relatives in neighborhoods where state rescue crews had not reached everyone in time.

The twin quakes struck on June 24, 2026, at about 18:00 local time. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs put the first tremor at magnitude 7.2 and the second at as high as 7.5, followed by more than 20 aftershocks that made rescue work more dangerous for survivors and crews alike.

OCHA initially put the toll at 32 deaths and more than 700 injuries, but later official updates pushed the toll far higher, to 589 dead and 2,980 injured. La Guaira was the hardest-hit state, with damage in Caracas, Miranda, Carabobo and Yaracuy. Maiquetía International Airport was closed after structural damage, while the Caracas Metro and rail services were suspended.

A state of emergency was declared and an Emergency Operations Command activated. Families slept in streets, highway medians, parks and stadiums because their homes were unsafe or gone. In several areas, power and phone service remained out, while other neighborhoods had only intermittent electricity.

Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, put the count at eight hospitals affected and evacuated, along with 20 shopping centers and 68 public facilities. Hospitals were operating under mass-casualty protocols as rescue teams worked through unstable structures and more than 20 aftershocks continued to rattle the region.

Volunteers set up collection centers for food and supplies, while app-based efforts tried to track missing people and report damage. Foreign rescue teams and aid were arriving, and hundreds of people were still trapped or missing alongside the confirmed dead and injured. At least 18 foreign nationals were among the dead. The United States announced aid and deployed military assets to support relief operations.