Two major quakes (magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5) struck northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026, damaging thousands of structures and critical infrastructure. Early assessments put direct physical damage in the billions of dollars, with severe impacts in areas including La Guaira, Caracas, Miranda, Carabobo, and Yaracuy.
According to the most recent reports available, at least 1,450 people were killed, but that number could change as teams continue searching collapsed buildings.
Ethan Forhetz of Convoy of Hope says large aftershocks also continue to rattle the nation, which means the damage is ongoing.
"It's incredible the devastation that has taken place in Venezuela in such a short amount of time," he reports. "Now there are big concerns about the weakened buildings that have not yet come down. Will these aftershocks bring them down?"
Before the earthquakes, his ministry already had teams in Venezuela to help with the humanitarian crisis brought about by the repressive Maduro regime, and Forhetz says they jumped right into disaster relief mode.
"Immediately after the earthquakes, our team was able to get into place," he tells AFN. "We're providing hot meals … groceries, water, [and] other supplies that are life-sustaining through food stations."
The Delsi Rodrigez government has reportedly welcomed the relief and is helping expedite more, but Venezuela will likely need help for years after the shaking stops.
The situation is comparable to Haiti's after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 people in January 2010. Haiti has since rebuilt some parts of the country, but the quake destroyed or severely damaged so much of the infrastructure that it never fully recovered.
Venezuela's prospects are arguably better because it entered the disaster with more natural resources, a larger economy, more existing infrastructure, and a more educated workforce. The biggest factor working against its full recovery is Venezuela's economic and political condition before the disaster.
Forhetz says it will take "a substantial amount of time" — likely years — for Venezuela to rebuild and return to where it was.
In the meantime, he asks believers everywhere to pray.
