Venezuela quake doublet collapses buildings in La Guaira, kills 235

A rare earthquake doublet struck Venezuela’s northern coast 39 seconds apart, collapsing multi-storey buildings in La Guaira and shaking communities as far away as Colombia and Brazil. The earthquakes hit Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, and the death toll reached at least 235 as rescuers kept searching through wreckage.

Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency after more than 100 buildings had collapsed in La Guaira, more than 70,000 local families were affected and the state had become a disaster zone. Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said hospitals were receiving patients without vital signs or were seeing people die on arrival.

The U.S. Geological Survey classified the sequence as a rare “doublet” and among the strongest earthquakes to strike Venezuela in more than a century. USGS modeling suggested the disaster could have caused thousands of deaths, with a 42% chance of at least 10,000 fatalities based on historical averages. The main shock was recorded 16 kilometers southwest of Morón at a depth of 10 kilometers, a shallow rupture that helped explain why damage spread so quickly across the coast.

La Guaira is home to one of Venezuela’s main seaports, access to its principal international airport and densely packed coastal communities such as Catia La Mar and Macuto. Search workers, municipal police and neighbors dug through rubble in those neighborhoods looking for survivors and loved ones while people salvaged belongings from collapsed homes. Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas closed because of quake damage.

The United States deployed search teams, medical resources and humanitarian aid, and the U.S. Treasury issued a sanctions waiver to allow earthquake-relief transactions. World Central Kitchen delivered hot meals to residents in affected coastal areas where power outages and collapsed homes had left many families without reliable shelter or food.