THE death toll from Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes has risen to at least 188, with 971 people injured, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez, said on Thursday.
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez had earlier said that round 30 aftershocks have been recorded following the two strongest quakes on Wednesday.
Rescue workers evacuate an injured person from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.
Authorities initially reported 32 dead and more than 700 injured.
The earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck the same area of Venezuela on Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), causing buildings in the capital to crumble and forcing the closure of the country’s main airport.
Rescuers work on the remains of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.
US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that “the two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths.”
“The U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help! I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly,” the American president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Women and children react in the street following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.
An AFP journalist saw a 22-story building completely destroyed in the capital’s Altamira neighborhood, where people cried out relatives’ names as volunteers climbed over the rubble.
“We need flashlights,” one of them said.
People run into the street following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.
The first quake, with an epicenter 21 kilometers (13 miles) west of the coastal town of Moron, occurred at 2204 GMT, USGS said. Within a minute, a 7.5-magnitude quake struck about 45 kilometers away.
“This earthquake was the second event in a doublet. This magnitude 7.5 mainshock was preceded by 39 seconds by a 7.2 foreshock,” USGS said.