Overview
- The twin earthquakes that struck on Wednesday, June 24, measured about 7.2 and 7.5 and flattened large parts of La Guaira and nearby coastal neighborhoods.
- Venezuelan officials say more than 1,700 people have died and thousands are injured, while non‑government missing‑person registers and some reports list tens of thousands unaccounted for, creating wide discrepancies in counts.
- The critical 72‑hour rescue window has largely closed, but local volunteers and international teams have continued searches and pulled isolated survivors from the rubble after long extrication efforts.
- The United States has expanded assistance to roughly $300 million and deployed military aircraft, helicopters and Marines to help restore the Simón Bolívar airport and reopen La Guaira port to speed deliveries of supplies.
- Preliminary assessments from NASA and the UN show tens of thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed and as many as millions possibly affected, leaving urgent needs for shelter, water, medical care and long‑term reconstruction while aftershocks and limited heavy equipment slow operations.