Caracas, June 26, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan casualties from Thursday’s double earthquake continue to rise amid ongoing search and rescue efforts to remove survivors from flattened buildings.
On Thursday night, Venezuelan authorities reported 235 people dead and over 4,300 injured. There are 250 buildings with serious damage or completely collapsed.
The death toll is expected to rise sharply with unofficial missing people databases compiling more than 40,000 unaccounted persons. However, the figure has steadily decreased in recent hours, while organizers have also pledged to remove duplicate filings.
Social media channels have been flooded with reports of missing friends and relatives.
The Caribbean nation was struck by 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes in quick succession on Wednesday. The tremors were concentrated in central and northern states, including the capital. Geological services registered 138 aftershocks in the 24 hours after the first earthquakes. Coastal La Guaira State was the worst affected, with government officials reporting over 100 collapsed buildings.
Search and rescue efforts continued on Thursday as civil protection teams and volunteers rushed to locate survivors and remove them from under the rubble. The Venezuelan government called on the private sector to collaborate with heavy machinery. Several areas of La Guaira are also hard to reach.
Venezuelan grassroots organizations also mobilized, organizing the collection of food, clothes and medicines for displaced families and setting up makeshift shelters.
Videos on social media showed the Venezuelan armed forces likewise moving equipment and mobile surgical units to the coastal area. Commercial flights to and from Simón Bolívar International Airport airport in La Guaira, the main air hub serving Caracas, have been temporarily suspended following damage to a major runway and the air traffic control tower.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez visited the most affected areas on Thursday afternoon and oversaw ongoing efforts to deploy heavy machinery and provide food and shelter for displaced families.
“We express our support and solidarity to all those affected and we hope to find as many survivors as possible,” she told reporters. “We are working around the clock and we have called for international assistance.”
Venezuelan efforts were reinforced on Thursday night with the arrival of emergency teams from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador. Additional brigades are reportedly on the way from Colombia, Brazil, and the US, among others.
Alongside search and rescue teams, the US Department of War announced a deployment of logistical support assets.
In a statement, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced the deployment of the amphibious transport ship USS Fort Lauderdale and the littoral combat ship USS Billings alongside Hercules transport aircraft. Marine Corps Major General Kevin J. Jarrard landed on Thursday night and will reportedly oversee the efforts.
The Trump administration is providing $150 million in humanitarian aid to be channeled through “assistance” partners including Catholic Relief Services and multiple UN agencies.
Washington has, however, opted to maintain its punishing economic sanctions regime against the South American country. On Thursday, the US Treasury Department issued General License 60 (GL60) authorizing transactions related to earthquake relief efforts. However, Venezuelan assets abroad, including bank accounts, remain frozen, meaning that aid efforts will still face hurdles or require US approval.
Caracas has also been unable to access around $4.8 billion in gold held by the Bank of England as well as nearly $5 billion in IMF Special Drawing Rights issued during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since January, the Trump administration has issued multiple sanctions waivers to allow Western corporations to secure favorable energy and mining agreements with the acting Rodríguez government. Transactions between Caracas and its historic allies in China, Russia, Cuba, and Iran continue to be prohibited by the waivers and subject to secondary sanctions. The White House has likewise seized control of Venezuelan export revenues, disbursing a portion back to Caracas at US officials’ discretion.
Edited and with additional reporting by Lucas Koerner in Caracas.
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