Caracas: Back-to-back powerful earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela in rapid succession on Wednesday evening, collapsing high-rise buildings in the capital city of Caracas, triggering widespread panic, and knocking out power and communications across multiple states. The government has officially declared a national state of emergency as search and rescue teams scramble to pull survivors from the rubble.
The disaster unfolded rapidly just after 6:00 PM local time on June 24, 2026, a national holiday in Venezuela. Because of the holiday, most residents were at home rather than at work when the ground began to move. At 6:04 PM, a massive magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck at a depth of roughly 20 kilometers, centered in the Yaracuy state near the coastal community of Morón. Barely 39 seconds later, an even more violent magnitude 7.5 earthquake tore through the exact same region at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers.
The combined forces of the twin strike-slip quakes represent the most severe seismic event to hit the country in more than a century. Shaking was so intense that tremors were felt hundreds of miles away in neighboring Colombia, northern Brazil, and nearby Caribbean islands. More than 20 significant aftershocks have since been recorded, leaving terrified residents sleeping on lawns, parks, and open streets overnight.
While official local authorities have only been able to confirm a handful of immediate fatalities in specific heavily hit districts—including structural collapses in the Chacao and Baruta municipalities of Caracas—the total human toll is expected to be catastrophic.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system issued a “Red Alert,” estimating a 39% probability that the death toll will fall between 1,000 and 10,000 people, and a 37% probability that it could reach between 10,000 and 100,000 casualties.
