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Image: FUNVISIS map of seismic activity, June 24-26
On the afternoon of June 24, while many communities were celebrating San Juan Day—an important date in Afro-Venezuelan culture—two consecutive earthquakes shook the country, leaving thousands injured and missing, as well as a huge number of people displaced by the collapse of hundreds of residential buildings. The death toll is also expected to be in the thousands; the official report released by National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez on the afternoon of June 26 cites 920 dead and 3,360 injured. Rescue efforts have been slow due to a lack of government investment, foresight and organizational capacity, while thousands of people still lie beneath the collapsed structures.
The two earthquakes, of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, occurred in a quick succession in less than a minute and had their epicenter in Yaracuy state, less than 200 kilometers west of Caracas. Videos of Caracas taken from the cable car connecting the city to Cerro El Ávila and from nearby mountains showed large clouds of dust emerging from the city as dozens of buildings were reduced to rubble. Fishermen at sea captured similar images of the coastline in La Guaira State, where the country’s worst destruction is concentrated. Maiquetía Airport, located on the coast and serving the city of Caracas, sustained significant damage.
There have been numerous aftershocks—less intense tremors following the two major earthquakes. Over the past two days, the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismic Research (FUNVISIS) has recorded another 136 earthquakes, including three with magnitudes between 4 and 6 on the Richter scale.
These have been the most intense earthquakes in the northwestern region since 1812, which affected Caracas, Mérida, Barquisimeto, La Guaira, and other cities in the midst of the War of Independence, leaving thousands dead in an event that was exploited by the religious agitation of the monarchist faction. In 1641, the San Bernabé earthquake also left a trail of destruction in Caracas and La Guaira. Other cities, such as Cumaná in the east, have experienced major earthquakes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In Caracas, the most recent major earthquake took place in 1967, reaching 6.5 on the Richter scale, and leaving approximately 250 dead and 1,800 damaged buildings, 20 of which collapsed. Following this earthquake, the country’s building codes were updated and FUNVISIS was created, but violations of the new norms—due to corruption or technical incompetence— contributed to the recent collapse of numerous buildings constructed after the regulatory changes, according to architects and engineers interviewed by Venezuelanvoices.org. Corruption has played a significant role, as evidenced by the collapse of two Turkish-built housing complexes in Playa Grande, La Guaira, which were constructed as part of the Venezuelan government’s official housing plans in 2013 and 2015, as reported by Venezuelan media.
Another example is the severe structural damage reportedly sustained by the Gran Cacique Maiquetía Hotel, built by the Venezuelan government across at the Maiquetía International Airport over a period of 25 years and inaugurated late last year.
The government proved unable to handle the emergency
The government’s response has been criticized as slow, haphazard, and inefficient, forcing survivors to attempt to clear debris on their own. There has been a notorious delay in deploying all the human resources and machinery available to the state for rescue operations, and it has been documented that a lack of equipment is hindering the work of rescuers, who at times have to use cell phones instead of flashlights to illuminate the interiors of collapsed structures.
The Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, called on the public to spend the night of June 24 in open spaces and not to return to their homes. It became clear that the government never had a contingency plan with shelters to house victims when faced with this type of disaster.
Authorities are also hindering independent, self-organized solidarity efforts by confiscating aid or banning grassroots initiatives, as in the case of the mayor of the municipality of Campo Elías, in Mérida state, who banned the collection of aid for earthquake victims outside of government-controlled institutional channels.
Some twenty governments and international institutions have announced that they will send humanitarian aid and rescue teams to assist Venezuelan authorities, but this aid reportedly did not arrive within the first 24 hours following the disaster.
All warnings were ignored
In 2017, on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Caracas earthquake, the National Academy of Engineering and Habitat published a book on its main lessons and warnings. The authors warned that “there are buildings—especially those constructed in the 1970s and earlier decades—that do not comply with current seismic construction norms (…) The task of assessing the vulnerability of existing buildings and undertaking seismic retrofitting projects where warranted remains pending”. The authors also alerted that “the city has become more densely populated without adequate planning. In the suburban neighborhoods, there has been a proliferation of additions and extra floors built in a makeshift manner. Furthermore, public housing construction programs (Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela) have been implemented without taking urban variables and ordinances into account. Public services have collapsed. In many areas of Caracas, sewage can be seen flowing through the streets, sewers are overflowing, slopes are eroded, and streets are in very poor condition.” Almost a decade passed and the impending danger was ignored.
Despite the well-known seismic vulnerability of much of the coastal-mountainous corridor where Venezuela’s major cities are located, authorities have for decades been negligent in fulfilling their responsibility to inspect, maintain, and reinforce the infrastructure. In late 1999, thousands of people died as a result of floods and mudslides in the Vargas landslide, largely due to decades of government incompetence and negligence that led to the settlement of marginalized informal communities near riverbeds. The current disaster also shows vulnerability to catastrophic events increases as a result of irresponsible policies that have accumulated over decades under successive governments.
Reconstruction and aid, not foreign debt payments
In a statement, the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSL) described the crisis as “a natural disaster in the midst of a major social catastrophe,” characterizing Venezuela as “a country in precarious conditions and facing serious difficulties in coping with a catastrophe of the magnitude that has just occurred.” In addition to a pre-existing public services crisis and difficulties accessing water, electricity, transportation, natural gas and gasoline, numerous healthcare workers have emigrated in the last decade fleeing misery wages, and the healthcare system has been “destroyed after years of disinvestment (by the Venezuelan government) and severe imperialist sanctions imposed by the U.S.—the very same country that bombed us six months ago and now hypocritically offers us ‘aid.’”
The political organization highlighted that a report from the National Hospital Survey revealed that in 2024 there was a deficit of nearly 60% in surgical capacity and that in 91% of hospitals, patients had to bring their own supplies to undergo surgery, confirming a 36% shortage rate for emergency supplies.
The left-wing opposition organization denounced that the Central Bank of Venezuela has subsidized private banks with more than 5,500 million dollars over the past five months and that the government recently announced its intention to restructure a foreign debt of 240 billion dollars, calling on the government to abandon this plan and instead request that creditors condone said debt. Given the weak official response to the urgent need to clear debris to rescue survivors, they argue that the authorities “must require large national and transnational companies to provide financial support and that private construction companies make all their heavy machinery and equipment available to the government.” Finally, they demand that the U.S. government permanently lift economic sanctions, rejecting OFAC License 60—which only temporarily facilitates the transfer and processing of funds—and that Venezuela be transferred “all the money obtained from the sale of oil and minerals, which is currently held by the Treasury Department, and that these resources be allocated to a special emergency fund to address the tragedy.”
Solidarity also means demanding change
Millions of people around the world have been deeply moved by the tragedy facing the Venezuelan people and have donated money, food or medical supplies to different solidarity campaigns. Numerous local and international aid organizations are working hard under very difficult circumstances to rescue and assist survivors and provide care for the wounded. However, there is no doubt that the political situation—in a country oppressed by U.S. political, economic, and military control, and with a discredited and authoritarian regime lacking popular legitimacy—presents significant challenges. Lack of confidence in corrupt and repressive authorities means people will be reluctant to channel solidarity efforts through their institutions.
In this regard, it is important that, at the international level, we also demand that the Venezuelan government remove obstacles to the right to information by allowing social media platforms to operate and unblocking hundreds of media websites that are currently only accessible via VPN. This can facilitate access to information and help amplify calls for help or reports of abuses.
The cancellation of the plan to pay $240 billion in foreign debt and a request for the cancellation of Venezuela’s foreign debt—given the urgent need to allocate resources to reconstruction—is another important political demand directed at the Venezuelan government, the U.S. government, and Venezuela’s international creditors. It is important to demand that the U.S. government repeal sanctions against Venezuela, rather than grant temporary licenses that limit the scope of some sanctions while keeping the sanction regime itself in place.
It is important to stress that the U.S. government bears an additional responsibility due to the fact that it currently exercises semicolonial control over Venezuela. It is also important to condemn the hypocrisy of the genocidal state of Israel, which—while preventing heavy machinery from entering Gaza to clear rubble and even bombing and killing rescue workers and health workers—attempts to whitewash its image by exploiting the tragedy facing the Venezuelan people. Our tragedy must not be exploited by perpetrators of genocide.
Donations
There are numerous fundraising campaigns to provide financial support for the humanitarian emergency. One of them is a campaign to support the purchase of tools, equipment, and medical supplies for the rescue efforts being carried out by the Fire Department of the Central University of Venezuela. This organization has a lot of experience in rescue operations and is based in Caracas. This fundraising effort has potential for immediate impact on rescue efforts.
Venezuelanvoices.org will also make our Patreon account available to support those affected by the disaster, allocating all funds raised during the remaining months of 2026 to assist the victims, in coordination with labor and social organizations with which we have had long-standing relationships.
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