Venezuela Earthquake Aftermath: Search Efforts Intensify for Hundreds Trapped

Rescuers carry a person on a stretcher out of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas. [Juan Barreto/AFP]

News Blend 360

Fri, June 26, 2026 at 8:05 PM EDT

LA GUAIRA/CARACAS, June 26 (NB360) - Venezuelans and rescue teams scrambled to locate survivors on Friday as the death toll from two earthquakes exceeded 900. Foreign rescue teams and aid began arriving nearly two days after the quakes hit.

The government reported 172 people still trapped, 920 fatalities, and 3,360 injuries, while a website listed over 50,000 missing individuals.

Frustration grew over the lack of equipment and inconsistent state support for rescue efforts after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes devastated areas of Caracas and its surroundings on Wednesday night.

A U.N. report estimated the direct damage at about $6.7 billion, while reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter noted a significant gap between economic and insured losses.

Moron, a town near the epicenter, was still without power, according to the local fire chief speaking to NB360.

EYES ON LA GUAIRA

NB360 witnesses traveled on highways cracked by the quakes, passing numerous buildings reduced to rubble. Some ruins were marked with building names to aid rescuers.

Traffic congested roads into the heavily affected La Guaira state as government and private vehicles, including pickups with soldiers, moved in. At least 100 buildings, including high-rise apartments, were destroyed there.

In a phone call aired on state television, interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced the government would limit access to La Guaira to ease traffic and aid rescue operations.

Residents dug through debris with their hands, citing a lack of heavy equipment, while volunteers transported supplies on motorcycles from Caracas and Valencia.

Jennifer Palacios, 25, recounted how the quakes struck shortly after she left her home in the Hugo Chavez housing complex, burying her 6-year-old son and five other relatives. Their fate remained uncertain.

"It's the community that has managed to get people out alive," she said, standing by the rubble. "We need cranes to move the slabs. People are still trapped."

INTERIM GOVERNMENT TESTED

NB360 witnesses observed people in Catia la Mar, a town in La Guaira, taking items like toilet paper, cooking oil, and bread from a damaged store.

Police, the national guard, and other officials did not intervene in the looting, according to Reuters witnesses. National Assembly head Jorge Rodriguez had earlier advised citizens to hand aid to authorities rather than directly deliver it to La Guaira to keep roads clear.

Rodriguez, who assumed power after the U.S. captured her predecessor in January, promised a significant relief effort and was shown visiting La Guaira on state television on Thursday.

The president expressed gratitude to motorcycle caravans delivering supplies and stated the government had distributed 2,600 tons of food.

However, assistance was inconsistent, with government emergency crews evident in some areas but absent or minimally present in others.

Lawyer Ricardo Trias, 73, was seeking a death certificate for his godson Armando Lopez, 54, whose body was retrieved from the rubble in Caraballeda on Thursday night but remained at the site.

"We want them to give us the body... we can't take it and here it will rot,"

Trias said. "No forensic authority has come."

The disaster could have political repercussions for Rodriguez, who has tried to position herself as a reformer despite having served as vice president under the ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela's oil production was unaffected by the quakes and remained at 1.2 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Paula Henao said in a radio interview on Friday, assuring that fuel distribution would be maintained.

Oil executives and workers reported the sector avoided major infrastructure damage, though power outages and port delays were expected to reduce output.

WORLD RALLIES

Foreign rescue teams, including some from countries historically at odds with Venezuela, started arriving late Thursday and into Friday. A small team from the Dominican Republic was the first to reach La Guaira.

Rodriguez stated that authorities met with representatives of the U.S. military's Northern Command and disaster experts, expressing gratitude for their support. She mentioned that rescuers from Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy were also en route.

The U.S. announced it was mobilizing $150 million in aid and easing sanctions, while the U.S. military sent two ships and indicated helicopters and aircraft would assist in rescue efforts.

In Los Corales, 50 members of El Salvador's rescue team were assessing the ruins of three 10-story buildings using drones, heat scanners, and dogs to find survivors.

"People have told us they can hear people. They call them on the phone and they answer, and they can hear people screaming and calling,"

said Roberto Gavidia, the team's leader.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele shared a video on X of the team preparing to enter a building, noting they had found a 15-year-old trapped with her pet on the ninth floor and were working to rescue them.

NATION UNDER STRAIN

The quakes hit a nation already weakened by decades of economic and political instability, which has impoverished residents, driven millions abroad, and weakened infrastructure.

"My building is uninhabitable, and now I have nothing. It's just me and my son, and I have no family in the country," said Suhayl Sarquiz, 50, who lost her job a few months ago.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated more than 10,000 deaths were possible, potentially making the disaster one of Latin America's deadliest earthquakes of the last century.

Nearly 7 million people could be affected, according to the U.N.'s migration agency, which provided emergency shelter and other relief items.