VENEZUELA: A desperate, frantic rescue operation is underway across north-central Venezuela after rare back-to-back “doublet” earthquakes flattened parts of Caracas and shattered coastal cities.
With the confirmed death toll nearing 1,000 and tens of thousands reported missing, frustrated survivors are digging through concrete slabs with their bare hands, pleading for heavy machinery.
The disaster struck on June 24, 2026 a national holiday when a magnitude 7.2 foreshock was followed just 39 seconds later by a massive 7.5 magnitude mainshock. Centered about 100 miles west of the capital, it is the most powerful earthquake sequence to strike the country in over a century.
Government officials and international aid agencies are painting a grim picture of the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has officially declared the hard-hit coastal region of La Guaira a disaster zone.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) warned that due to the shallow depth of the tremors and high vulnerability of local infrastructure, the final death toll could realistically exceed 10,000.
In La Guaira, an estimated 100 buildings including modern high-rise apartments crumbled entirely. Local communities have become the primary first responders, pulling neighbors from the dust while international rescue teams and aid shipments slowly begin to trickle into the country.
At the Hugo Chavez housing complex, a sprawling multi-tower residential neighborhood in La Guaira, 25-year-old resident Jennifer Palacios sat stunned on a plastic chair facing a mountain of broken concrete. She had briefly stepped outside when the earth violently convulsed, trapping her 6-year-old son and five other family members beneath the ruins.
“It’s the community that has managed to get people out alive,” Palacios said. “We need them to bring cranes to move the slabs. There are still people trapped.”
Reported By : News Desk I Lahore
