June 26, 2026
Foreign rescue teams and aid were arriving on Friday in Venezuela nearly two days after devastating twin earthquakes flattened areas in and around the capital Caracas, forcing residents to dig through rubble to save relatives, friends and neighbors.
The government has estimated hundreds of people still trapped and missing on top of 589 confirmed fatalities and 2,980 injuries. A website set up to take reports of people still unaccounted for had 50,000 listed as of Friday morning.
The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors struck about 160km west of Caracas on Wednesday evening as Venezuelans were enjoying a public holiday.
The US Geological Survey has predicted high potential for more than 10,000 deaths, which would place the quakes among the deadliest earthquakes in Latin America in the last century.
