Death Toll Rises in Venezuela After Powerful Quakes as Disaster Zone Is Militarized

Rescue teams are racing against time along Venezuela’s northern coast after two major earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, struck less than 40 seconds apart and destroyed dozens of buildings. The official death toll has risen to 589, with 2,890 injured, and authorities fear the true number is higher because many people are still missing and may be trapped under rubble.

The worst damage is concentrated near the coast by Simon Bolivar International Airport, around the cities of La Guaira, Catia La Mar and Caraballeda. Several residential towers collapsed there, and families are searching desperately for missing relatives, including entire families of four or five people. Caracas was also badly hit, with buildings collapsing in the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes neighborhoods.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Defense Department would help deploy search and rescue teams to the disaster area. He said the urgent priority is extracting people from the debris, adding that the first 72 hours are the critical “golden hours” for saving lives. The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said OCHA was “fully mobilized” and would provide major reinforcements, aid and rescue capacity, saying, “This is the time to act.”

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, called the disaster a “terrible tragedy” and declared La Guaira both a disaster zone and a military zone. She described it as an “unprecedented seismic event,” said dozens of buildings had collapsed there, and urged private companies to provide heavy engineering equipment. She also said the first rescue teams from the Dominican Republic were already on the way, with more delegations expected soon. The quakes were felt as far away as Manaus, Brazil, more than 1,600 kilometers from Caracas, prompting several countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Canada and Qatar, to promise aid. France said it would immediately send 85 specialist rescuers, while President Donald Trump said the United States was ready to help and the Treasury temporarily eased some sanctions until October 23 to allow disaster-related transactions.