Twin Earthquakes Kill 1,430 in Venezuela; 68,900 Reported Missing as Rescue Continues

Twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck Venezuela three days before Saturday, June 27, 2026, killing 1,430 people. Families reported at least 68,900 people missing as of that day. Rescue operations continued in La Guaira state, where an aftershock measuring 4.8 struck Caracas and affected areas.

Teams used shovels, heavy equipment, ropes and bare hands to search rubble from collapsed buildings. Seventeen flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue team members from Mexico, the United States, Brazil, El Salvador and France had landed by Saturday, Venezuelan officials said.

More than 14,000 members of the military and police were patrolling disaster areas in La Guaira, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on state television.

Access to the zones required special permits. Simón Bolívar International Airport serving Caracas had one operational runway. A U.S. Navy transport ship was docked off the coast ready to receive airlifted survivors, Jeremy Lewin, a senior State Department official, told reporters.

The International Organization for Migration said over 6 million people could be affected, including some 2 million in Caracas. Smaller aftershocks continued for days after the main quakes. An 18-day-old infant and his mother were rescued after 12 hours of searching, Telemundo reported.

A 69-year-old woman rescued by Salvadoran teams requested a Coca-Cola after being pulled from the rubble, Salvadoran authorities said. Mileidy Romero said newborn babies and other people were still alive under rubble at 8 p.m. the previous evening but had not been rescued.

Yeison Marcano said searchers received assistance only from an investigations unit while police and National Guard did not help. Rodríguez took office in January 2026 after the U.S. capture and removal of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela has faced economic disarray for more than a decade.