Updated on: June 25, 2026 / 9:07 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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At least 164 people were killed and some 971 injured by a pair of powerful earthquakes that rocked Venezuela Wednesday evening, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said early Thursday. The toll was likely to keep rising as rescuers were still searching collapsed buildings and emergency crews racing to access devastated areas. Communities across the South American country sustained damage.The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblors had magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5. The agency's predictive modeling indicated the quakes could have killed thousands of people, with a 42% chance of at least 10,000 fatalities, though that is based on historical averages and does not take into account many factors specific to this event.La Guaira, on the nation's northern coast, apparently was the hardest hit state, Rodriguez said. "Dozens of buildings have collapsed and we are engaged in the arduous task of rescuing the lives that God allows us to save. The state of La Guaira is facing a true tragedy and has become a disaster zone," she said.
Rescue workers and municipal police officers work at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela on June 24, 2026.
