On Wednesday, Venezuela was hit by two massive, back-to-back earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, leaving a trail of widespread destruction across multiple regions of the South American nation and forcing national officials to enact a full countrywide state of emergency. The seismic activity was felt across large swathes of the country, even reaching the capital city of Caracas, where early reports documented multiple building collapses and critical damage to public infrastructure.
Data published by the United States Geological Survey confirms that the more powerful 7.5-magnitude tremor struck just 40 seconds after the initial 7.2-magnitude quake, both centered in the same geographic area. The epicenter of the seismic event was positioned roughly 28 kilometers northwest of the town of Montalbán, a location that sits in close proximity to some of Venezuela’s most important oil refining infrastructure – a critical sector for the country’s economy.
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez rolled out a series of urgent emergency measures to protect public safety and organize response efforts. These new rules include the suspension of all in-person classes and non-essential work across affected areas, the mandatory evacuation of residential structures that suffered severe structural damage, and the indefinite closure of Maiquetía International Airport, one of the country’s busiest international travel hubs which sustained heavy damage from the quakes.
As search-and-rescue teams and recovery crews continue to work through damaged areas to locate survivors and clear debris, national government leaders have called on all Venezuelan citizens to stand united and follow official safety guidance to avoid additional harm. Political opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado also issued a public statement extending her full support to all communities impacted by the disaster, offering prayers for victims of the quakes and their grieving families.
In updated safety guidance, U.S. tsunami monitoring officials have since ruled out any tsunami risk for the broader Caribbean region, allowing local emergency managers to cancel an earlier precautionary tsunami warning that was issued immediately after the major tremors were detected.