Venezuela quakes kill 929, injure 3,360; EU deploys rescue teams as search for missing continues
A pair of magnitude-7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, killing at least 929 people and injuring 3,360, according to authorities. Tens of thousands remain missing, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations intensify.
The twin earthquakes
On Wednesday, June 24, two powerful earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 hit Venezuela within 38 seconds of each other. The epicenter was about 200 kilometers from Caracas, but the tremors caused severe damage in the coastal state of La Guaira and the capital. More than 20 aftershocks followed, leveling dozens of buildings and disrupting critical infrastructure, including hospitals.
- First earthquake
- 7.2 magnitude
- Second earthquake
- 7.5 magnitude
Death toll and missing persons
As of Friday, June 26, the official death toll stood at 929, with 3,360 people injured. The Venezuelan government warned the numbers would keep rising as rescue teams reached more remote areas. The United Nations said over 50,000 people were missing, while local authorities described hundreds as unaccounted for. The Portuguese community was hit hard: at least 28 Portuguese nationals and descendants were killed, and 85 remained missing.
Search, rescue and international aid
Caracas fire brigades combed through debris, pulling survivors from collapsed structures. A widely shared video showed firefighters extracting a dog from the rubble, with a rescuer writing "Every life counts." Portugal and seven other European Union nations announced they would send search-and-rescue teams to Venezuela. The Venezuelan Portuguese Chamber of Commerce set up donation points across Portugal, from Braga to Madeira, to collect food, clothing and medical supplies.
It is almost like an atomic bomb fell in this place. The images are horrifying.
Jhonny Gamez Lopes, president of the chamber, returned to Portugal the day before the disaster. He lost friends and colleagues; survivors he spoke with "lost absolutely everything: they have no house, no clothes, nothing."
A birth in the rubble
In La Guaira, a woman went into labor while trapped under the debris of a collapsed building. Rescue workers and civilians improvised a delivery space lit only by phone flashlights, helping her give birth before both mother and baby were transferred to a hospital. The moment, captured on video, provided a rare note of hope amid the destruction.
A family still trapped
Manuel Sardinha, a Portuguese supermarket worker in La Guaira, was at work when the quakes struck. Seven of his relatives were inside their apartment building. His son was pulled out overnight, but the others remained under the debris, including his seven-year-old granddaughter.
There is a strange feeling in being able to lose a reasonable number of family members. My son managed to get to a corner of the apartment, but the other six people were near the windows. They may have suffered severe injuries that, in the worst case, could lead to death.
Sardinha's wife had traveled to Caracas that day and returned only after 8 p.m., learning about the tragedy upon arriving in La Guaira. As generators powered search operations, the family waited for news that never came quickly.
