Foreign rescue teams reached La Guaira as families searched for relatives trapped since Wednesday’s twin earthquakes.
LA GUAIRA, VENEZUELA — Venezuelans searched collapsed homes and apartment towers Saturday for survivors of two powerful earthquakes that struck the country’s northern coast Wednesday evening, killing at least 1020 people and injuring more than 3,300.
The search has become a race against time in La Guaira, the coastal state north of Caracas that suffered some of the worst damage. Families, neighbors, soldiers, firefighters and foreign rescue crews are working across broken streets and unstable buildings while aftershocks continue. Officials say hundreds of people may still be trapped, and thousands more have been reported missing or unaccounted for by relatives and aid groups.
The earthquakes hit around dinnertime Wednesday, when many people were at home for a public holiday. The first quake, measured at magnitude 7.2, was followed less than a minute later by a stronger magnitude 7.5 shock. Buildings swayed, walls split and several apartment blocks fell into piles of concrete and steel. Diana Sandrano, whose brother has been missing for two days after his building was destroyed, said she would keep searching “as long as it takes.” Sandrano said her brother “deserves to live and have a future” as rescue workers and dogs searched the wreckage.
Venezuela’s government said Saturday that 1,600 foreign rescue workers had arrived on 17 flights, with 25 more flights expected within 24 hours. Foreign Ministry official Oliver Blanco thanked other nations for support during what he called a time of uncertainty. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said 14,000 military and police personnel were deployed in La Guaira for security, rescue support and public health measures. Officials also limited access to the main road between Caracas and La Guaira, saying heavy traffic had slowed emergency vehicles. Civilians not assigned to official teams were required to show credentials at roadblocks.
The damage stretches from La Guaira and nearby Catia La Mar to Caracas, Morón and other northern communities. In La Guaira, residents described digging with bare hands before heavy equipment arrived. Some families waited outside damaged apartment towers with water bottles, phone chargers, scraps of paper listing names and fading hope. Officials have reported more than 200 aftershocks, including one felt in Caracas on Friday evening. Power remained out in parts of La Guaira and near the epicenter in Morón, while Rodríguez said electricity had been partly restored in other areas.
The United Nations Development Programme said a rapid satellite-based assessment placed direct physical damage at about $6.7 billion. The agency said 1.7 million structures were in affected areas, including many in La Guaira, Carabobo, Miranda, Yaracuy and Aragua. The region lies near the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates. The U.S. Geological Survey listed the larger quake at a depth of 10 kilometers, a shallow event that can cause stronger shaking near the surface. Engineers and officials said the close timing of the two quakes likely worsened damage to buildings already weakened by the first shock.
La Guaira has lived through disaster before. In 1999, heavy rains triggered deadly mudslides and floods in the same coastal state, killing thousands and washing away homes. This week’s earthquakes brought new destruction to communities already shaped by steep hillsides, dense housing, aging infrastructure and limited emergency resources. Survivors said the shaking lasted long enough to collapse buildings before some residents could reach exits. At hospitals in Caracas, relatives checked handwritten patient lists for missing family members, while doctors treated children, older adults and people pulled from damaged homes.
Officials have not given a final count of those trapped or missing. Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, said at least 383 buildings had been damaged or destroyed and that at least 172 people remained trapped in rubble. Other lists promoted by opposition groups and families showed far higher numbers of people not yet located, though many entries may include duplicate names or people unable to contact relatives because of power and phone outages. Rescue teams from several countries joined local crews with dogs, cutting tools and medical supplies, while U.S. officials pledged aid and logistical support.
In the hardest-hit neighborhoods, grief and urgency mixed with brief moments of hope. Residents cheered when rescuers paused, listened for sounds under concrete and called for silence. Others stood near collapsed towers holding photos of relatives. “We have no food or medicines,” Pedro Pérez, a La Guaira resident who lost his home and business, said as he slept outside with his wife and children. In Catia La Mar, Diego González said he spent four hours digging a cousin out of a collapsed home before taking her to a hospital.
The search continued Saturday as more international teams moved toward La Guaira and officials kept traffic controls in place for emergency access. The next key milestone is the arrival of additional rescue flights expected by Sunday, as crews press deeper into unstable buildings and families wait for confirmed names.
Author note: Last updated June 27, 2026.