Rescuers search for victims in a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.Juan Barreto/Getty Images hide caption Two major, back-to-back earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble in the nearby capital of Caracas.An initial earthquake at about 6 p.m.
Eastern time, a 7.2-magnitude foreshock, was followed less than a minute later by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake in the same area, according to the U.S.Geological Survey.The epicenters, which USGS estimated to be about 3 miles apart, were near the town of Morón on Venezuela's Caribbean coast, some 100 miles west of Caracas.
Rescue workers carry a person on a stretcher out of a collapsed building.Juan Barreto/Getty Images hide caption "When the earthquakes are this close together" in time, said Paul Earle, a seismologist at USGS, "it can be difficult to unravel the exact magnitudes and the exact locations, especially for the second event," due to the way the signals on seismograms overlap in these cases.Photos and video posted to social media showed leveled buildings, people running for safety, and falling debris from structural damage at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas.
The airport has since closed.A damaged building at Los Palos Grandes after a magnitude 7.2-foreshock struck Venezuela.
Jesus Vargas/Getty Images hide caption The total number of deaths and injuries is not yet clear.On Wednesday evening, USGS modeling of the 7.5-magnitude earthquake estimated deaths could be in the thousands to tens of thousands, with economic losses reachi...