The powerful 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday evening, toppling buildings and severely damaging the country’s main international airport. People across the country were frantically searching for missing relatives, with social media filling with photographs and appeals for information.
Venezuela’s political opposition has set up a set up a website to track missing people in parallel to government efforts and it shows that there are more than 58,000 people unaccounted for. This far exceeds the government’s official count, which reached 150 on Thursday at midday.
In emailed comments, reinsurance broker Howden Re said the quake is the latest reminder of a structural challenge facing the reinsurance industry globally.
“Latin America maintains a resilience score of around 8-9%, meaning the vast majority of economic exposure in the region remains uninsured,” Howden Re added.
“Closing these protection gaps requires sustained commitment from reinsurers, governments, and multilateral institutions to develop the risk transfer frameworks and local market capacity that can make insurance meaningful in the regions that need it most.”
“We’re carrying out an extraordinary effort across the country,” Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state television. “Hospitals in the La Guaira region, the worst-hit region, are at maximum capacity and we’ve started to set up field hospitals.”
He said 4,300 people have been injured in this state along with 235 killed.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez deployed troops across La Guaira on Friday after declaring the area a disaster zone. The coastal region borders the capital Caracas and houses the country’s Simón Bolívar International Airport, which suffered extensive damage. At least five other Venezuelan states have been impacted.
Many places were experiencing outages of electricity, water and gas supply amid continued aftershocks.
Venezuela’s oil facilities, however, appeared to be functioning normally, though one loading terminal near the epicenter was damaged.
US Marine Corps General Kevin Jarrard arrived in Caracas in the early morning hours on Friday to help coordinate search-and-rescue teams and damage assessment efforts, according to a statement from US Southern Command.
Teams from Mexico, El Salvador and Switzerland reached the country early Friday. Authorities are awaiting the arrival of additional assistance from Colombia, Spain, Barbados and Panama.
The government will create an initial $200 million reconstruction fund using International Monetary Fund resources to finance repairs to infrastructure, hospitals and housing, Rodríguez said on state television. Officials are also discussing an additional fund to support victims, while public and private banks will activate special credit lines for people who lost businesses or jobs.
The fund will “allow us to rebuild infrastructure, hospitals, and build homes for those that lost theirs,” Rodríguez said in a Thursday morning report, adding that the government would lease private-sector machinery to support rescue operations.
Caracas residents flocked to supermarkets amid fears of food shortages, while long lines formed at gas stations. Makeshift tent camps sprang up across the city, including at Parque del Este, as people feared aftershocks or structural damage to their homes.
The disaster will place further strain on Venezuela’s oil-based economy, which is already grappling with one of the world’s highest inflation rates and recurring power outages.
It also poses a fresh challenge for Rodríguez, who took the reins of a deeply unpopular government after the US captured Nicolás Maduro at the start of the year.
President Donald Trump said the US “stands ready, willing, and able” to help. “I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly,” he said late Wednesday on social media.
The US Treasury Department on Thursday issued a license authorizing all transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions.
Bonds issued by the government and state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA are down across the curve amid concerns around the nation’s emergency response capacity and the economic impact of the tragedy. Sovereign notes due in 2031 extended losses on Friday after dropping by 1.4 cents on the dollar the previous session, falling below 54 cents, the lowest since April, according to indicative pricing data compiled by Bloomberg.
Chevron Corp., the leading private-sector oil producer in Venezuela, said its business remains operational and all of its employees are accounted for.
Most ports continued to operate, although some oil loadings were suspended at the El Palito terminal in Carabobo state, according to shipping reports seen by Bloomberg.
Photograph: People evacuated following the earthquake in Parque Central, Caracas, on June 24, 2026; photo credit: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images
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