Venezuela quakes kill at least 235, leave thousands injured

At least 235 people were killed and more than 4,300 were injured after twin earthquakes tore across Venezuela, turning a long-running collapse in public services into a mass-casualty emergency. The first 7.2-magnitude quake hit about 160 kilometers west of Caracas on June 24, followed less than a minute later by a 7.5-magnitude tremor that the U.S. Geological Survey said was the strongest to strike the country since 1900.

Officials first said on June 25 that 188 people had been confirmed dead, about 200 were trapped, 1,520 had been hospitalized and roughly 250 buildings had been damaged or destroyed. The toll rose in later reporting as rescuers reached more neighborhoods and hospitals absorbed the wounded. La Guaira, the coastal state that includes the main airport serving Caracas, was among the hardest-hit areas, and Simón Bolívar International Airport was closed after suffering damage.

The impact was especially severe in the health system. At least eight hospitals were reported badly damaged, including facilities already strained by chronic shortages of supplies, qualified personnel and reliable infrastructure. In one overwhelmed hospital in the disaster zone, a doctor said it was operating without running water. Firefighters were using cellphone lights because flashlights were in short supply, a small but telling sign of how thin emergency response had become.

Rescue work in La Guaira moved slowly through debris because machinery and equipment were scarce. Residents and volunteers dug through rubble by hand nearly a day after the quakes, while rescue crews and neighborhood colectivos joined the search for survivors. Jorge Rodríguez said 70,000 families in La Guaira state were affected, underscoring how far the damage spread beyond the dead and injured.

The disaster landed on top of a humanitarian crisis that had already left Venezuela’s basic services fragile. UNICEF said 7.7 million people in the country needed humanitarian assistance in 2024, including 3.8 million children, and its appeal for Venezuela that year estimated $147 million was needed to address critical needs for 3.1 million people. The United Nations said 25 international teams with 1,000 personnel had been mobilized, while aid was expected from Spain, the United States, Mexico and Qatar.

Health and relief agencies are now facing the same compound crisis from both directions: immediate trauma care for thousands of injured people and the longer emergency of displaced families, damaged hospitals and the risk of disease in a system already weakened by years of economic turmoil.