Venezuela hit by two major earthquakes, dealing severe damage to Caracas.

 

Rescue workers save a person in Caracas. The Guardian/AFP/Getty. 

Venezuela has been hit by two major earthquakes that dealt severe damage to the country, including the capitol, Caracas. The Guardian.  The US Geological society said the country was hit by a 7.2 magnitude foreshock and a 7.5 "mainshock" seconds later. The epicenter hit the town of Moron, roughly 100 miles to the west of Caracas. Massive damage was reported, with many buildings collapsing and people being trapped. Venezuela is a tectonically active country, but earthquakes are comparatively rare compared to places like California and Japan.   

Reuters has live updates for this disaster.

My Comment:

This is a fairly extreme natural disaster which will likely result in casualties in the five to six digit range. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake is a fairly large one and having the epicenter be in a populated area near a major city is a major reason why casualties are expected to be very bad. 

Par of this is due to the relative rarity of earthquakes in the area. Earthquakes, even severe ones, are not unheard of in the country, but they are also not unknown. Indeed, they have had several large earthquakes, most notably in 1812 and 1967. 

Venezuela does indeed have regulations to protect from earthquakes but enforcement is a joke due to corruption. And many buildings are older than the regulations to. This means that many buildings collapsed. Given my X feed is full of collapsed buildings it's pretty clear that was extremely common in Caracas, and other cities. Indeed, in one clip I saw, it seemed like almost every building was damaged or collapsed.

🔴 #URGENTE | El terremoto de Venezuela destruyó la ciudad de La Guaira. pic.twitter.com/IeqBCHmKuo

— Mundo en Conflicto 🌎 (@MundoEConflicto) June 25, 2026

The disaster comes at a transitional time for Venezuela. Keep in mind, we removed and arrested Nicolas Maduro earlier this year. The country is essentially now a vassal state of the United States after that raid. The country seems to be fairly stable but this is going to be a huge blow to the country. 

I fully expect that the United States will be helping Venezuela out. America usually does provide disaster aid for countries regardless of the situation, but it's extremely likely to happen in this situation. Though the United States is under no obligation to help, given that they are a de facto, though not de jure, vassal, help will almost certainly be giving. Doing so would strengthen our relationship with Venezuela while not doing anything would probably completely destroy the relationship. 

The good news for Venezuela is that the United States still has major forces in the region. Right now we have a large fleet blockading Cuba and some of those forces could easily be rerouted to Venezuela. Most notably, our Amphibious Assault Ships are well suited for this role. We also are close enough to Venezuela that we should be able to send direct aid flights to them as well. Other countries are likely to send aid as well, with Columbia already committing to doing so.