Earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday night, causing buildings to collapse and severely damaging the country’s main international airport. People across the country are frantically searching for missing relatives, with social media flooded with photos and appeals for information.
Venezuela’s political opposition sets up a build a website Government efforts to track missing persons show more than 58,000 people are unaccounted for. This far exceeds the official government figure, which reached 150 at noon on Thursday.
Reinsurance broker Howden Re said in emailed comments that the earthquake was another reminder of the structural challenges facing the global reinsurance industry.
Howden Re added: “Latin America’s resilience score remains around 8-9%, meaning the vast majority of the region’s economic risks remain uninsured.”
“Closing these protection gaps will require continued commitment by reinsurers, governments and multilateral agencies to develop risk transfer frameworks and local market capacity to enable insurance to work where it is most needed.”
“We are carrying out an extraordinary effort across the country,” Health Secretary Carlos Alvarado told state television. “Hospitals in La Guaira, the hardest-hit region, have reached maximum capacity and we have begun setting up makeshift hospitals.”
He said 4,300 people had been injured and 235 people had died in the state.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez deployed troops to the La Guaira region on Friday after declaring it a disaster area. The coastal area, which borders the capital Caracas and is home to the country’s Simon Bolivar International Airport, also suffered severe damage. At least five other states in Venezuela are affected.
Aftershocks continued, and power, water and gas outages occurred in many places.
However, Venezuela’s oil facilities appeared to be operating normally, despite damage to a loading dock near the epicenter.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Kevin Jarrard arrived in Caracas early Friday morning to help coordinate search and rescue teams and damage assessment efforts. Statement from U.S. Southern Command.
Teams from Mexico, El Salvador and Switzerland arrived in the country early Friday. Authorities are awaiting additional aid from Colombia, Spain, Barbados and Panama.
Rodriguez said on state television that the government would use resources from the International Monetary Fund to set up an initial $200 million reconstruction fund to finance the repair of infrastructure, hospitals and housing. Officials are also discussing setting up additional funds to support victims, while public and private banks will launch special credit lines for people who have lost businesses or jobs.
The fund will “allow us to rebuild infrastructure, hospitals and build houses for people who have lost their homes,” Rodriguez said in a report on Thursday morning, adding that the government would lease private sector machinery to support relief operations.
Worried about food shortages, Caracas residents flocked to supermarkets and formed long lines at gas stations. Temporary tent camps have sprung up across the city, including in Parque del Este, amid fears of aftershocks or structural damage to homes.
The disaster will put further pressure on Venezuela’s oil-based economy, which is already grappling with one of the world’s highest inflation rates and regular power outages.
It also creates new challenges for Rodriguez, who inherited a deeply unpopular government after the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
President Donald Trump said the United States “stands ready, willing and able” to help. “I have directed all agencies of our government to be prepared to act quickly,” he said on social media late Wednesday.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday issued a license authorizing all transactions related to Venezuela’s earthquake relief efforts that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions.
Bonds issued by the government and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela fell across the board amid concerns about the country’s emergency response capabilities and the economic fallout from the tragedy. Sovereign bonds due in 2031 extended losses on Friday after falling 1.4 cents against the dollar in the previous session, falling below 54 cents to the dollar, their lowest level since April, according to indicative pricing data compiled by Bloomberg.
Chevron, Venezuela’s leading private oil producer, said its operations are still operating and all employees are on duty.
While some oil loading at the El Palito terminal in Carabobo state was suspended, most ports continued operations, shipping reports seen by Bloomberg showed.
Photo: People evacuate after an earthquake in Caracas Central Park on June 24, 2026; Photo Credit: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images
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