CARACAS – Venezuela witnessed two powerful earthquakes earlier this week and the seismic activity wreaked havoc across the South American nation, killing more than 900 and injuring thousands, with over 51,000 reported missing, as desperate families search the ruins with little official assistance.
The twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, struck late Wednesday, reducing neighborhoods to rubble and triggering one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters in recent history. Nearly two days later, hopes of finding survivors are fading as the critical 48- to 72-hour rescue window rapidly closes.
🇻🇪 Devastating scenes of a man searching through the rubble of Venezuela’s earthquake for missing loved ones.
While over 2 dozen nations have contributed to humanitarian efforts, the scale of the destruction makes tragic footage like this inevitable.
At least 920 people have… https://t.co/SSoq7aCfu7
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 27, 2026
Residents said they have been forced to lead rescue efforts themselves, accusing authorities of providing little support. Across the worst-hit areas, relatives armed with hammers and basic tools continue digging through collapsed buildings in a desperate search for loved ones trapped beneath the debris.
The devastation has been particularly severe in La Guaira, where entire communities have been shattered. Among the grieving families is Nazareth Jiménez, who pleaded for international help as neighbors struggled to clear concrete slabs. “We need heavy machinery. There are still people alive inside,” she said, urging governments around the world to send urgent assistance.
The government said food and water are being distributed to survivors, while Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has vowed a full-scale emergency response and welcomed international support. Security has also been reinforced in the affected region. However, many residents insist the aid reaching disaster zones remains far from adequate.
Officials fear death toll will continue to rise as rescue teams battle time and massive destruction. So far, 243 people have been pulled alive from the rubble, offering rare moments of hope amid the tragedy.
The humanitarian crisis is expanding rapidly. 6.7 million people could be affected by the disaster, officials said, including nearly 2 million residents of the capital, Caracas. Experts say the back-to-back earthquakes dramatically magnified the scale of destruction, while many survivors remain too terrified to return to damaged homes because of the risk of further collapses.
Thousands of rescuers from Mexico, US, El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia, and other countries already operating in Venezuela, while UN has deployed 25 rescue teams comprising around 1,000 personnel, as the global effort intensifies to find survivors before time runs out.
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