Twin Magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 Quakes Devastate Northern Venezuela

Overview

• The twin earthquakes that struck on Wednesday, June 24 caused catastrophic shaking across La Guaira and parts of Caracas and led to hundreds of buildings collapsing.
• Venezuelan officials reported 1,719 deaths and roughly 5,000 injured, while the United Nations estimates up to about 6.8 million people have been affected.
• A large international response is under way with more than 2,000 rescuers from dozens of countries, Brazil sending a KC-390 with medical and search teams and Anatel deploying 130 technicians to locate victims by cellphone signals.
• Rescue operations face a rapidly narrowing survival window because of continuing aftershocks, including a roughly 4.6 magnitude event, shortages of heavy equipment and fuel, and extreme strain on hospitals treating crush injuries and infections.
• Authorities and aid agencies are shifting toward recovery tasks such as mortuary management and sheltering the displaced while the disaster risks deepening Venezuela’s economic and political stresses, with preliminary damage estimates near $6.7 billion and growing public frustration over the official response.