Deadly Venezuela earthquakes kill 32, injure more than 700

Two powerful earthquakes tore through northern Venezuela on Wednesday evening, killing at least 32 people and injuring more than 700 as collapsed buildings sent residents into the streets. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the toll could rise as rescue crews kept working and damage assessments widened across the affected area.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 7.2-magnitude quake followed less than a minute later by a 7.5-magnitude quake. It placed the epicenter offshore near the Caribbean coast west of Morón, about 168 kilometers west of Caracas, a location that put the shaking within reach of the capital and several populated communities along the coast.

The scale of the destruction was immediate. Buildings collapsed, leaving emergency teams to search through rubble while families tried to account for missing relatives and neighbors. With more than 700 injured, local hospitals and clinics faced a sudden surge of patients even as officials continued to tally the dead and assess structural damage.

Rodríguez said the response was still unfolding and warned that the number of fatalities could rise. That uncertainty reflects the challenge of working through a major disaster while aftereffects remain possible and the full extent of damage is still being mapped out. In a country already under severe economic strain, the earthquakes added another test to an overloaded emergency system.

The quakes were among the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century, deepening fears about what may emerge once search teams reach harder-hit buildings and isolated areas. Residents spent the evening in shock after the ground convulsed twice in rapid succession, first with the 7.2-magnitude quake and then with the stronger 7.5-magnitude jolt.

The disaster lands at a moment when Venezuela’s institutions are already stretched by years of crisis, making the mass-casualty response more difficult. As rescue operations continued, the immediate priorities remained clear: find survivors, treat the injured, and secure the damaged structures before more lives are lost.