Severe earthquake doublet shakes Venezuela – curfews and relief operations underway

The doublet: magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5

The epicenter of the first quake on Wednesday at 6:04 p.m. was located 24 kilometers east of San Felipe in the northwest of the South American country at a depth of 21.9 kilometers, according to official data. The second and stronger quake occurred a few kilometers further north at a depth of only around ten kilometers. The second quake released about three times as much energy as the first.

The tremors were felt in at least seven states and in the capital Caracas, located more than 150 kilometers east of the epicenter. The quakes were also registered in Bogotá, Colombia, roughly 1,000 kilometers away, and on several Caribbean islands. An initially issued tsunami warning for Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, as well as Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire was lifted after about an hour.

Scale of destruction in Caracas

In Caracas, several buildings collapsed, cracks ran through walls, and window panes shattered. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez spoke of a "Vorfall mit schwerwiegenden Folgen" in a nationally broadcast address and declared a state of emergency. "Wir rufen unsere Bevölkerung dazu auf, Ruhe zu bewahren," she said. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello confirmed the collapse of several residential buildings on state television and warned: "Wir haben es mit einer äußerst alarmierenden Situation zu tun."

Citizens fled into the streets in panic. "Ich habe noch nie in meinem Leben so viel Angst gehabt, es war fürchterlich," reported a 57-year-old from the east of the metropolis of millions. "Ich saß im Auto und der Wagen hat sich hin und her bewegt, als handle es um ein Blatt Papier," said another resident. "Mehrere Wände in meinem Gebäude sind aufgebrochen oder haben Risse bekommen," reported an eyewitness from Valencia west of Caracas. The mayor of the Chacao district, Gustavo Duque, urged the population to move to public squares for safety due to possible aftershocks.

Casualty figures and missing persons

According to initial government figures, at least 32 people died and around 700 others were injured. Rodríguez stated, however, that the casualty figures so far did not yet include data from the particularly hard-hit state of La Guaira near Caracas. In the Chacao district, 18 survivors were rescued from a single building, according to Duque. In the coastal state of Falcón, Governor Víctor Clark reported 22 injured and 15 missing adults; in the coastal city of Tucacas, 15 people were believed to be under the rubble of a collapsed five-story building. A website set up by the opposition abroad to search for missing persons listed more than 6,600 people whose whereabouts were unclear as of around 2:00 a.m. local time on Thursday.

The authorities ordered the gas supply to be cut off to prevent explosions. School classes were suspended for the rest of the week, rail traffic halted, and the metro and the Natur gas in Caracas shut down. The Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía near Caracas had to be closed due to severe damage. Hospitals such as the Hospital de Clínicas in Caracas doubled their nighttime staff; Rodríguez called on all healthcare personnel in the country to report to clinics to treat the injured.

Geological background

The US Geological Survey estimates the possible death toll at several thousand; a figure of more than 10,000 dead is considered likely. According to USGS data, the Wednesday evening quake is the strongest ever recorded earthquake in Venezuela since the magnitude 7.7 quake in 1900 northeast of Caracas off the country's coast. Venezuela lies on the boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates, which shift against each other by about 20 millimeters per year; earthquakes are common in the region, but strong ones are rare.

According to the assessment of geologist Marc Quigley of the University of Melbourne, the first quake may have triggered the second by increasing pressure on an adjacent fault. In Venezuela, one fault runs east-west on land, with another branching off it to the southwest; the earthquakes occurred exactly at this intersection. The mechanism was a strike-slip fault, in which the rock masses slide horizontally past each other. The USGS estimates the probability of another quake of at least equal strength in the coming days at 2 percent; larger aftershocks remain possible, even with a delay of months or even years.

In Caracas and the surrounding regions, more than 20, and later more than 250, aftershocks were recorded. "Doch grössere Nachbeben bleiben möglich – auch mit einer Verspätung von Monaten oder sogar Jahren," seismologists warned. The authorities urged the population to report damage via a government app. In several states, schools served as emergency shelters and collection points for donations.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced a reconstruction fund of 200 million US dollars, to be financed with funds from the International Monetary Fund. She said she would ask multilateral organizations for financial assistance for reconstruction. Rodríguez has been leading the country since the overthrow of President Nicolás Maduro by the USA in January 2026. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is currently not in Venezuela, wrote on the platform X: "Mein Herz, meine unendliche Umarmung und meine Gebete gelten in diesen Stunden der Not jeder venezolanischen Familie. Mögen Stärke, Ruhe und Solidarität in dieser schwierigen Zeit unter uns herrschen."

International aid pledges

International assistance was announced. US President Donald Trump assured Venezuela of swift support on Truth Social: "Die ersten Berichte sind nicht gut!!!" US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the immediate deployment of search and rescue teams as well as humanitarian and medical aid. "Wir stehen mit den Behörden in Kontakt und mobilisieren Hilfe," said US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. Chancellor Friedrich Merz also declared: "Deutschland steht an der Seite Venezuelas und wird helfen." Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the Bundeswehr could provide up to six A400M transport aircraft.

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, also wrote on the platform X that 300 rescue workers and paramedics as well as 50 tons of relief supplies were ready to be brought to Caracas. The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, announced the deployment of specialized military search and rescue teams. Brazil, Mexico, Qatar, China, and India also signaled willingness to help. EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib said the EU Earth observation program Copernicus had been activated, and Spain also offered support. UN-coordinated rescue teams are on their way to Venezuela to help search for those buried, Rodríguez said in a televised address on Thursday.

The country's important oil infrastructure initially appeared unaffected; however, ongoing power outages could affect production. The state oil company PDVSA and its main foreign partner Chevron initially made no statement on the impact. Aid organizations such as the Austrian Red Cross and Caritas called for donations for those affected. Gerald Schöpfer, President of the Austrian Red Cross, said: "Für die Menschen vor Ort ist das Leid unvorstellbar – sie benötigen dringend unsere Hilfe." Venezuela is one of the poorest countries in South America; up to 80 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Historical earthquake risk in Venezuela

The German Foreign Office in Berlin called on German citizens in Venezuela to register on the crisis preparedness list "Elefand" and to follow the safety notices of the German GeoForschungsZentrum. A travel warning for Venezuela has been in place since January from the German Foreign Office. According to the Austrian Foreign Ministry, around 750 Austrian citizens live in Venezuela; the German Foreign Ministry most recently recorded a low three-digit number of German citizens on the crisis list. The US Embassy in Caracas urged American citizens to seek safe shelters.

History shows that Venezuela has repeatedly been struck by severe earthquakes. In 1812, an estimated 30,000 people died in a devastating quake in Caracas and Mérida. In 1976, a quake in the capital claimed nearly 300 lives; in 1997, 73 people died in a quake in the eastern state of Sucre; and in September 2025, an earthquake doublet of magnitudes 6.2 and 6.3 in the same region killed one person. According to the USGS, there have been only seven quakes of magnitude 6 or greater within a radius of 250 kilometers in the past 100 years.

The aid organization Jugend Eine Welt, the Austrian Red Cross, the Samariterbund, and Caritas Austria set up donation accounts for the earthquake victims in Venezuela. Initial rescue operations have begun; the authorities are doing everything