{"id":134809,"date":"2026-06-25T14:52:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/things-to-know-about-the-venezuela-earthquakes\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:52:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:52:40","slug":"things-to-know-about-the-venezuela-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/things-to-know-about-the-venezuela-earthquakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Things to know about the Venezuela earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A man walks past a damaged home in Moron, near the epicenter of two earthquakes that struck Venezuela the day before, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A rare double earthquake<\/a> ravaged Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 188 people and leaving more than 200 trapped. Many more are feared dead.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people have been reported missing and about 1,500 people have been injured. Some of the heaviest damage and casualties were in La Guaira, a coastal region north of the capital, Caracas.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about the earthquakes and the search for survivors:<\/p>\n

Two earthquakes in less than one minute<\/strong><\/p>\n

The powerful 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck 39 seconds apart along the San Sebastian fault on Venezuela\u2019s northern coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.<\/p>\n

They were among the strongest in the South American nation<\/a> in more than a century.<\/p>\n

The first earthquake, a 7.2-magnitude foreshock, hit west of Mor\u00f3n on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas, with a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles).<\/p>\n

The second, a 7.5-magnitude mainshock, was centered 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Mor\u00f3n, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles).<\/p>\n

The back-to-back earthquakes \u2014 known as a doublet<\/a> because of their similarities in magnitude, time and proximity \u2014 resulted from shallow strike-slip faulting near the complex plate boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, the U.S. Geological Survey said.<\/p>\n

Many people are dead, injured or missing<\/strong><\/p>\n

The death toll in Venezuela is likely to climb as rescue crews comb through buildings toppled by the earthquake.<\/p>\n

Acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> said authorities have deployed rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, where dozens of buildings have collapsed.<\/p>\n

The city, about 165 kilometers (103 miles) east of the 7.5-magnitude quake\u2019s epicenter, is a \u201cdisaster zone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Civilians and authorities pulled survivors out of concrete rubble, some of them covered in dust and blood. Families sobbed in front of destroyed homes.<\/p>\n

Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for.<\/p>\n

Significant damage in Caracas and beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n

The earthquake destroyed buildings in Caracas and led to evacuation as far away as Brazil\u2019s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) away.<\/p>\n

In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.<\/p>\n

Parts of the city lost power and cellphone service. Venezuela\u2019s main airport in Caracas was damaged and closed, subway service was suspended and natural gas was shut off.<\/p>\n

Classes will also be canceled for several days as schools are used as shelters and donation centers.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes.<\/p>\n

Another challenge for Venezuela\u2019s leader<\/strong><\/p>\n

The earthquakes are yet another crisis for Rodr\u00edguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the U.S. captured former President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are jailed in New York City while awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez inherited a country that has been in economic turmoil<\/a> for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Many Venezuelans reject the legitimacy of her political movement<\/a>, while some loyalists have criticized her leadership and warming relationship<\/a> with the U.S.<\/p>\n

Help from other nations and Venezuelans abroad<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. said Thursday it is sending two specialized urban search and rescue teams to Venezuela and will provide $150 million in assistance through nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.<\/p>\n

The United Nations said Thursday that international search and rescue teams are expected to start arriving \u201cin the coming hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other countries sending aid to Venezuela include Qatar and Mexico.<\/p>\n

Venezuelans in the U.S. are rushing to organize donation drives<\/a>. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities in Florida, Texas and Utah.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s Latin America coverage at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A
A man walks past a building damaged by earthquakes that struck Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, a day earlier, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Paramedics
Paramedics carry an injured person at a hospital in Moron,near the epicenter of two earthquakes that struck Venezuela a day earlier, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Motorcyclists
Motorcyclists wait in line to fill their tanks in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026, a day after successive powerful earthquakes struck the country. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Residents
Residents help to remove rubble from a collapsed building in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026, a day after successive powerful earthquakes struck the country. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A man walks past a damaged home in Moron, near the epicenter of two earthquakes that struck Venezuela the day before, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros)(AP Photo\/Jacinto Oliveros) A rare double earthquake ravaged Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 188 people and leaving more than 200 trapped. Many more are feared dead. Thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-134809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134809"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=134809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}