LAST UPDATE | 25 Jun

POWERFUL TWIN EARTHQUAKES have killed at least 188 people and injured more than 1,500 in Venezuela, as rescue workers searched through collapsed buildings in Caracas and other hard-hit areas.

Around 30 aftershocks have been recorded following the two strongest quakes on Wednesday, according to interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez today visited the coastal area worst hit by twin earthquakes.

Twin quakes, which the US Geological Survey measured at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, hit northern Venezuela within a minute of each other on Wednesday night, sending buildings collapsing and trapping many in the rubble.

Authorities initially reported 32 dead and more than 700 injured.

The United States said it was immediately deploying search-and-rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian aid after the massive shocks struck.

Spain and France said they would send dozens of specialists, and Germany promised six military transport planes.

Switzerland mobilised 80 personnel, eight rescue dogs and 18 tonnes of equipment to be sent to Venezuela “as soon as possible.”

The Netherlands also announced a €2 million aid package to deploy a search-and-rescue team, while the Czech Republic said its team was preparing to fly in.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it had released $2.5 million (€2.2 million) to support recovery efforts.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said America stood with the Venezuelan people “during this difficult time”.

“At the direction of President Trump, the State Department is immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela,” Rubio wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump said the two earthquakes were “massive in scale” and had left a “devastating number of deaths”.

Rescue workers pictured in Caracas. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“The USA stands ready, willing, and able to help,” he wrote on Truth Social, adding that he had instructed government agencies to prepare to move quickly.

“We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good!!!”

Rodriguez declared a state of emergency after the earthquakes, which struck the same area on Wednesday evening.

The United States Geological Survey said the first earthquake, measuring magnitude 7.2, struck near the coastal town of Moron at 5.04pm local time (10.04pm Irish time). A second, magnitude 7.5 quake followed around 39 seconds later roughly 45 kilometres away.

The USGS described the second tremor as the mainshock in an earthquake “doublet”.

Its preliminary modelling estimated that around 824,000 people experienced very strong, severe or violent shaking. It also estimated a 39% chance that the eventual death toll could exceed 1,000, and a 37% chance it could rise above 10,000.

Those figures are projections based on the intensity of the shaking and are not confirmed casualty numbers.

‘We couldn’t get out’

Residents pictured in Caracas. Pedro Mattey Pedro Mattey

In Caracas, an AFP journalist saw a 22-storey building reduced to rubble in the Altamira neighbourhood, as volunteers climbed over debris and relatives shouted the names of missing loved ones.

“The stairs came away, the whole wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible,” said bank employee Odalis Escalona, 54.

The earthquakes sent people running into the streets across the capital, while authorities shut off gas supplies to some buildings over fears of leaks and further damage.

Maiquetia International Airport near Caracas was closed after suffering what Rodriguez described as serious infrastructure damage.

More than 20 aftershocks were reported, while the tremors were also felt in neighbouring Colombia. Colombia’s disaster management agency said there was no tsunami threat.

The states of Trujillo, Carabobo, Miranda and La Guaira were among the areas worst affected, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.

Rescue efforts were continue as authorities assessed the scale of the destruction.

With reporting from AFP