• Emergency declared following back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 tremors, strongest to hit country since 1900
• At least 188 dead, 1,520 injured
• At least 250 buildings damaged or destroyed
• Pakistani leadership expresses condolences, offers solidarity
CARACAS: Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around the capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160km west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey.
Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings in Caracas as night fell, while distraught relatives sought help for loved ones feared trapped. Dazed survivors were taken away, some on stretchers.
“When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie,” said Maria Alejandra, a resident from a nearby building, who did not give her surname.
“We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out.”
188 confirmed dead
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said at least 188 had perished in the disaster, with more than 1,520 others injured. He added that at least 250 buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
Declaring a state of emergency in the country, Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said the government was working with business to deploy heavy machinery to accelerate efforts to help those still trapped.
The worst-affected area was La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city’s airport. Witnesses’ footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down in the airport and rubble from destroyed buildings along the seafront.
“Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save,” Rodriguez said on state television just before 1am local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday. She added that there were about 30 aftershocks.
The USGS, using predictive modelling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000.
A website set up to track missing people by leaders from the country’s opposition, many of whom are outside Venezuela, listed more than 24,000 people as unaccounted for at 10.40am local time (1440 GMT).
Many Venezuelans were at home when the quakes struck during a public holiday.
“There was a very loud crash. Things fell in the house, jugs inside the refrigerator. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said Coro Martinez, 56, who lives in eastern Caracas.
Rodriguez called for unity in Venezuela, where anti-government protests over annual inflation of more than 500 per cent have become more frequent since US President Donald Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a violent raid in January.
Other cities and towns close to Caracas affected by the quake, including El Junquito and La Guaira, remained without power on Thursday morning, increasing the challenges.
Residents rush into streets
Residents across Caracas, where infrastructure was already crumbling due to lack of investment, rushed to evacuate as buildings shook.
“As soon as it started, we began hearing people screaming,” said Astrid Ramirez, a 41-year-old publicist in western Caracas.
“Everyone was running down the stairs.” Maria Romero, an 80-year-old pensioner in southern Caracas, said police helped her out of her home. “This earthquake was horrible, even worse than the one in 1967,” she said, referring to a magnitude 6.3 quake that the USGS said killed 240 people.
“La Guaira state is a true tragedy, and has become a disaster zone.” Houses collapsed near the quake’s epicenter in Morn, a small seaside town in the state of Carabobo, where there was no water or electricity.
Venezuela lies in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate.
An estimated 30,000 people were killed when a quake caused widespread destruction in Merida and Caracas in 1812, according to the USGS.
Hospitals brace for the injured
At Caracas’ Hospital de Clinicas, staff were asked to double up on the night shift to help treat the injured, a worker there said.
Venezuela’s largest airport, in Maiquetia on the coast north of Caracas, was closed due to damages, Rodriguez said.
Classes were cancelled for the rest of the week as authorities began to take stock of the damage.
Venezuela’s oil infrastructure did not immediately appear to be affected by the tremors. Civil protection authorities in Maracaibo, near the large oil hub of Lake Maracaibo, said there were no injuries reported and a worker at the El Palito refinery near Morón — the epicentre of the earthquake — said there had been no damage there.
The quake was felt as far away as the Colombian capital of Bogota, where alarms sounded and some residents evacuated buildings as a precaution.
Freddy Tovar, coordinator of Colombia’s National Seismological Network, said authorities had received more than 200 reports of tremors nationwide.
Tremors were also reported in several cities in northern Brazil, according to the country’s seismic monitoring network.
The Pakistani leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressed grief over the loss of lives and devastation caused by earthquakes in Venezuela, offering condolences to the victims’ families, prayers for the injured, and support for those affected, according to state-run APP.
Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2026