At least 32 dead, 700 injured after massive earthquakes slam Venezuela

USA TODAY - Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, collapsing buildings in the capital of Caracas and killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds of others, officials said.

In an early update on June 25, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez said at least 32 people are dead and 700 others are injured after the two quakes hit the South American country. She warned that the death toll is expected to climb as rescuers continue searching through the rubble.

The first quake occurred at around 6:04 p.m. local time about 15 miles east-northeast of San Felipe, Venezuela, data from the U.S. Geological Survey showed. The temblor, initially reported as a magnitude 7.1, had a depth of about 12.6 miles, and its epicenter was west of Morón, a town located on the country's Caribbean coast.

Less than a minute later, the USGS reported a second major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5. The quake happened about 14 miles southeast of Yumare, Venezuela, according to the agency.

"This earthquake was the first event in a doublet, this magnitude 7.2 foreshock was followed just 39 seconds later by a larger 7.5 mainshock," the USGS said in a statement on its website.

The USGS warned that "high casualties and damage are probable, and that the disaster is likely widespread." The agency added that aftershocks, including “some potentially with strong shaking,” may follow the two earthquakes.

President Donald Trump took to social media and said the United States "stands ready, willing, and able to help" after massive earthquakes rocked Venezuela.

"The two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths, the president said on Truth Social. "I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly. We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good!!!"

The U.S. embassy in Caracas said it was closely monitoring the aftermath of the quake and urged citizens in the country to seek secure shelter and avoid damaged areas. The embassy reported that all American personnel were accounted for.

In a statement on X, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the United States was in touch with Venezuelan authorities and was mobilizing assistance for the South American country.

"The US stands with the Venezuelan people in the aftermath of this evening’s devastating earthquakes," Landau said.

Separately, Jeremy Lewin, who is in charge of U.S. foreign assistance, said the Department of State has "already mobilized a disaster assistance team and task force to deliver and coordinate critical assistance to the Venezuelan people." He added that the United States will send search and rescue teams, medical and humanitarian supplies, and other resources.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his country has offered Venezuela assistance.

"300 rescuers and paramedics, along with 50 tonnes of equipment, medicines, and essential supplies, are ready to depart for Caracas," Bukele said in a post on X.

Gustavo Duque, the mayor of the Chacao municipality in Caracas, said several buildings collapsed, and 18 survivors were extracted from one building alone. Earlier, Duque said 16 people were injured, and there were deaths, but he did not give an official figure.

Duque urged residents to shelter and aid at public plazas due to the possibility of aftershocks. "We're going to do everything we can to rescue the most people possible," he said.

In the coastal state of Falcon, Gov. Victor Clark said on state television that 22 people were injured and 15 people were missing.

In a brief address to the nation late June 24, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in response to the back-to-back earthquakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks that shook the country.

Rodríguez, who appeared on state television alongside her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, and Cabello, said she extended her condolences to the families of those killed, but did not provide a death toll or number of those injured.

Simón Bolívar International Airport in the city of Maiquetia, near Caracas, is closed until further notice because of damage, she said.

Rodríguez, who has been the president of Venezuela since U.S. forces removed former President Nicolás Maduro, was criticized by residents and politicians for not addressing the country within three hours of the quakes.

"Two consecutive earthquakes have caused significant damage in Venezuela. Collapsed structures. Panic in the streets," Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González said on X. "The uncertainty becomes yet another layer of anguish."

Many Venezuelans were at home during a public holiday marking an 1821 military victory that helped secure the country's independence from Spain when the two earthquakes hit. Residents in Caracas rushed to evacuate as the quakes shook buildings across the city.

Witnesses reported feeling the shake in Caracas, according to Reuters. One witness told the outlet that they were forced to evacuate as the earthquake shook buildings, while another reported that cracks formed on the side of their building. Video footage showed emergency workers climbing into one collapsed building in the capital as night began to fall.

"As soon as it started, we began hearing people screaming," Astrid Ramirez, 41, told Reuters. "Everyone was running down the stairs."

Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her get out of her home. "This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967," she said, referencing the deadly magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred in July 1967.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System initially issued a tsunami threat for Puerto Rico and the United States and British Virgin Islands following the earthquake, adding that islands off the coast of Venezuela — Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire — could also be hit by hazardous waves.

In an update, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said the tsunami advisory was canceled. "The tsunami threat from this earthquake has passed and there is no further threat," according to a message from the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.

Venezuela lies in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate. The USGS said the magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred as a result of "shallow strike-slip faulting near the complex plate boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates."

"This event was the mainshock of a severe seismic doublet sequence, occurring just 39 seconds after an M 7.2 foreshock," the USGS said on its website. "A doublet sequence – defined as two earthquakes of similar magnitude that occur close in time and proximity - likely indicates a complex, rupture-interaction process."

Though northern Venezuela has a history of large and damaging earthquakes, the USGS noted that there have been only seven earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 and larger in the past century in the vicinity of about 155 miles from the two temblors that occurred on June 24.

The region had previously experienced a doublet sequence, including a magnitude 6.2 and 6.3, in September 2025, the USGS said. Those quakes resulted in at least one fatality, over 110 injuries, and extensive damage.

"In broader Venezuela, there have been five M 7+ earthquakes in northern Venezuela or near the coast since 1900," according to the USGS.