{"id":12952,"date":"2026-06-26T07:18:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=12952"},"modified":"2026-06-26T07:18:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:18:00","slug":"earthquakes-in-venezuela-dead-and-thousands-missing-under-the-rubble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=12952","title":{"rendered":"Earthquakes in Venezuela: Dead and Thousands Missing Under the Rubble"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least 235 people were killed by the devastating double earthquake that struck Venezuela<\/b>. <\/p>\n

Teams of specialized rescue workers, in coordination with the UN<\/b>, are on their way to assist in the search for people trapped in the rubble <\/p>\n

The search efforts continued yesterday, Thursday, at a frantic pace amid the rubble of collapsed buildings as part of the rescue operations for those trapped. \u201cUnfortunately, we received 235 patients who were brought in with no vital signs or who died upon arrival at our healthcare facilities,\u201d said Health Minister Carlos Alvarado <\/b>on public television. <\/p>\n

He did not specify the number of injured. Authorities had earlier reported at least 1,520 people. <\/p>\n

Buildings reduced to rubble, mountains of debris, where distraught families were trying to find people buried alive<\/b>: near the epicenter of the earthquake, Agence France-Presse teams witnessed horrific scenes of destruction, raising concerns that the death toll will continue to rise significantly. <\/p>\n

The area hardest hit is the state of La Guaira<\/b>, north of the capital Caracas, where the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar<\/b> International Airport in Maquet\u00eda \u2014which was closed due to the damage it sustained\u2014and the coastal city of Catia la Mar<\/b>, where many buildings collapsed. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Aerial images of La Guaira. Earthquake in #Venezuela. Such tragedy never ceases to amaze. \ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udd98\u203c\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/8tV85HNrle<\/p>\n

\u2014 Cristian Crespo F. \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddfa (@cristiancrespoj) June 25, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cNo tools\u201d <\/h3>\n

Like the one where Antonio Berm\u00fadez<\/b> lived. \u201cThere was a point where a young woman, Jennifer, who lived on the 11th floor, answered me. \u2018But we don\u2019t have any tools, any way to help\u2019 her get out of the rubble,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

Lisbet Vazquez<\/b>, 37, told AFP that her family members managed to save themselves by jumping out of the windows of their family apartment at the last moment as the building \u201cwas completely collapsing.\u201d \u201cIt was terrifying,\u201d she said. \u201cNeighbors on lower floors were buried; we\u2019re trying to get them out.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"32045704.jpg\"<\/figure>\n

\u201cWe have nothing left. Nothing, not even the strength or courage to go in there,\u201d sighed Larry Rojas<\/b>, 49, standing before the pile of rubble where his relatives are buried. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need people to come and help. A little girl has been trapped here since last night; we can get her out, but we need an excavator,\u201d cried out in despair Danny Riso <\/b>, another 48-year-old resident of the same building. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

A woman waves to call for help from the top of a building destroyed by a powerful twin earthquakes that leveled dozens of buildings in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com\/4l2htUiSI4<\/p>\n

\u2014 Roya News English (@RoyaNewsEnglish) June 25, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

International aid <\/h3>\n

International aid is beginning to be organized. The U.S.<\/b> has promised \u201csubstantial,\u201d \u201crapid,\u201d and \u201ceffective\u201d aid, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/b> <\/p>\n

The State Department announced that it is sending rescue teams and allocating $150 million to provide aid through U.S. \u201cpartners\u201d. The U.S. military announced that it is deploying warships, aircraft, and helicopters to provide support for search and rescue operations.<\/b> <\/p>\n

Brazil<\/b>, two of whose citizens lost their lives in the earthquake, according to Bras\u00edlia, also announced that it is sending aid to its neighboring country. As did China, India, countries in Europe and Latin America <\/b>\u2014even Iran, a traditional ally of Venezuela, even though it has suffered the same immense devastation due to the war waged against it by the U.S. and Israel on February 28. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shaking right now\u201d <\/h3>\n

Acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez declared a state of emergency a few hours after the double earthquake measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck on Wednesday at 6:04 p.m. (1:04 a.m. on Thursday, Greek time). <\/p>\n

According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the strongest to hit the country since at least 1900.<\/b> <\/p>\n

The country, with a population of nearly 30 million, has been mired in an economic crisis for years. <\/p>\n

According to USGS data, the first tremor\u2014the \u201cforeshock,\u201d as it was described\u2014measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, was recorded at 6:04 p.m. (local time; 01:04 Greek time) at a depth of 21.9 kilometers, about 200 kilometers west of Caracas. The second, measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale, with a shallow focal depth of 10 kilometers, followed 39 seconds later, 45 kilometers from there. <\/p>\n

In the capital, where many buildings collapsed, the streets were littered with shards of broken glass, and many people spent the night outdoors, some in their cars if they had them, as the ground continued to shake from aftershocks. <\/p>\n

There were reports of some looting. In Katia la Mar, men and women were seen leaving a store\u2014which had been partially set on fire<\/b>\u2014carrying food, Agence France-Presse reporters observed. <\/p>\n

Power outages were reported by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who also announced that he had ordered the natural gas supply to be cut off in order to \u201cavoid any accidents.\u201d <\/p>\n

Yesterday morning, almost no stores opened, while traffic was heavy, as many residents sought to find safe locations away from buildings that were dangerous. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shaking right now,\u201d they shouted during an aftershock as they gathered around a building that had already collapsed. <\/p>\n

Even before the devastating earthquakes, \u201cnearly eight million people were in need of humanitarian aid\u201d in Venezuela<\/b>, recalled the UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher.<\/p>\n

As the international airport in Maiquet\u00eda closed due to \u201cserious damage to its infrastructure,\u201d as announced by Acting President Rodr\u00edguez the day before yesterday, Caracas will rely on La Carlota Military Airport, in the metropolitan area, to receive international aid deliveries. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n The devastating double earthquake that struck Venezuela left at least 235 people dead.<\/p>\n

Teams of specialized rescue workers, in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}