Anxiety mounts amid the rubble following the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, as rescue teams “race against time” to free people and animals from the rubble, though the destroyed infrastructure is causing serious problems. Rescue teams can hear people trapped beneath the rubble, while unofficial reports of missing persons have so far exceeded 8,000.

At least 32 people are dead and 700 injured following the successive 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck the central part of the country.

READ ALSO: “It was like a horror movie”: The moment “Aegelas” struck Venezuela—shocking eyewitness accounts (VIDEO)

Watch live footage of the devastation

Venezuela’s northern coastal state of La Guaira, which suffered the most extensive damage, has been declared a disaster area, announced acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

A website created to locate missing persons and posted on X by the country’s opposition leaders—many of whom are in exile— had recorded more than 8,000 missing persons as of 10 a.m. Cyprus time. The information has not yet been confirmed.

SEE ALSO: Chaos in Venezuela after a pair of powerful earthquakes: Areas leveled, initial toll (VIDEO)

Shocking estimates

The USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) reports that the death toll could exceed 10,000, although official casualty figures have yet to be released. Three people have been reported dead in Caracas.

Specifically, the model used by the USGS to estimate the number of casualties indicates a 39% probability of between 1,000 and 10,000 deaths, according to Reuters.

The same model predicts a 37% probability of 10,000 to 100,000 deaths.

Fishermen in the sea off the coast of La Guaira capture the moments after the earthquake, with dust covering large parts of the coast as a result of building collapses#Venezuela pic.twitter.com/D8KNwLkLDf

— CNW (@ConflictsW) June 25, 2026

A Battle Amid the Rubble

Rescue teams are racing against time to find survivors in the rubble amid a post-apocalyptic landscape. La Guaira, a coastal state in northern Venezuela, has been hit hardest by Wednesday’s earthquakes, Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, told CNN. Most buildings in the area were built in the 1950s or 1960s, or even earlier.

The United States is proceeding with the immediate dispatch of search and rescue teams, medical equipment, and humanitarian aid to Venezuela, as announced by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In a post on Platform X, the U.S. Secretary of State stated that the mission is taking place “immediately” and “at the direction of President Trump.” 

Video: Three children rescued from the rubble of a building in La Guaira

Three children have been rescued alive after being trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira following the devastating earthquake in #Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/sYcWas9FgD

— Hamdan News (@HamdanWahe57839) June 25, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela “left behind a catastrophic death toll,” without, however, citing official casualty figures.

Venezuela’s rescue teams were filmed using borrowed cellphones as flashlights, exposing a near-total lack of basic emergency equipment after years of economic collapse following devastating earthquakes.

Casualties are still being assessed.
pic.twitter.com/6Mo2pMyUMh

— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 25, 2026

Venezuela’s northern coastal state of La Guaira, which suffered the most extensive damage, has been declared a disaster area, announced acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

More video showing the catastrophic destruction following the two M7+ earthquakes in Venezuela.

The sound of people calling out is haunting pic.twitter.com/Gby8Vn0IKF

— Volcaholic (@volcaholic1) June 25, 2026

Warning of widespread destruction

No one knows how many people are trapped across Venezuela, says SKY News correspondent Martha Kelner.

“Desperate rescue operations are underway… every minute counts,” she adds.

“People and animals are being pulled from the rubble, and rescuers are digging with their bare hands.”

One resident says it was the strongest earthquake he had ever felt, adding that it was “long-lasting” and “very powerful.”

Kelnner says people rushed into the streets, but “many did not have time to escape,” and authorities have warned of widespread destruction.

#Venezuela: The earthquake has left the airportpanic and chaos pic.twitter.com/VfpgQ3qeMh

— Madhurendra Kumar (@Madhurendra13) June 25, 2026

The strongest earthquake to hit the country in over a century

The devastating earthquake that struck Venezuela on Wednesday is the largest the country has experienced in more than a century, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The largest recorded earthquake in the country occurred in 1900: It measured 7.7 on the Richter scale and struck the offshore area off the northern coast of Venezuela, near the capital, Caracas. The epicenter of that earthquake was just a few hundred kilometers from the epicenter of Wednesday’s earthquake.

The second earthquake on Wednesday was the next largest, with a magnitude of 7.5. The foreshock—which occurred just 40 seconds earlier—had a magnitude of 7.2 and is recorded as the fourth-largest earthquake in the country, just behind the 2018 earthquake.

Source: Proto Thema / skai.gr