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  "publishedAt": "2026-06-25T15:29:44.000Z",
  "site": "https://nukta.com",
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nDesperate Venezuelans battled Thursday to rescue loved ones trapped alive beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings after two major earthquakes killed at least 164 people.\n\nThe twin quakes, measured by the United States Geological Survey at magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck northern Venezuela within a minute of each other.\n\n#### How many people died in Venezuela's twin earthquakes?\n\nVenezuela's twin earthquakes killed at least 164 people and injured over 970, interim President Delcy Rodriguez said. The state of La Guaira, north of Caracas, was hit particularly hard.\n\nBuildings cracked and crumbled across the region, sending residents fleeing into the streets as rescue and aid offers poured in from around the world.\n\n#### What is happening in the rescue effort in La Guaira?\n\nResidents in La Guaira stumbled through debris calling out the names of loved ones or tried in vain to rescue the injured. Antonio Bermudez, whose building collapsed in the city, said a young woman named Jennifer answered him from the 11th floor, but he had no tools or way to help her. Elsewhere in the rubble, a father and his son used a pickaxe and a crowbar to try to reach two of his other sons trapped nearby.\n\nBermudez said the trapped men were still alive and told them not to strain their voices and to take short breaths, in the hope that all three could be rescued. The coastal city was without electricity, and many residents spent the night in the streets or searching for their relatives, AFP reporters said.\n\n#### How is the international community responding?\n\nThe strongest quake to hit Venezuela in 126 years will require massive collective efforts, United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement. He said the UN was fully mobilised to send aid. The international airport near Caracas was closed due to serious damage, complicating relief efforts, Rodriguez said.\n\nScores of rescuers were deploying from the United States and several European countries. Other nations including Mexico, Chile, Portugal, China, India, Brazil and Iran offered help, including rescue teams. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Bahrain that Washington's response would be big, fast and effective, with the US military playing a major logistical role. Washington has been closely involved in oil-rich Venezuela since US forces ousted and arrested President Nicolas Maduro in January.\n\n#### Were the earthquakes felt outside Venezuela?\n\nVenezuela's northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates. In 1812, a massive quake in the country killed an estimated 30,000 people. Wednesday's 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the country's most powerful since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore.\n\nThe quake was felt as far away as the Colombian capital of Bogota, where alarms sounded and some residents evacuated buildings as a precaution. Freddy Tovar, coordinator of Colombia's National Seismological Network, said authorities had received more than 200 reports of tremors nationwide. Tremors were also reported in several cities in northern Brazil, according to the country's seismic monitoring network.\n\n#### What damage has been reported in La Guaira and Caracas?\n\nMany residential buildings in La Guaira, around 40 minutes from the capital Caracas, were left with large cracks or gaping walls, with dozens of others destroyed. Resident Yilsmaris Blanco told AFP that while her family was grateful to be alive, others were suffering with family members trapped under rubble or pinned down. Paola Sanoja, 31, said there were people alive and dead inside a tilted building where one of her relatives was missing, and appealed for help to come.\n\nInterior Minister Diosdado Cabello asked people to leave their homes, adding that gas supplies had been cut to some buildings as a precaution. In Caracas, the quakes sent residents fleeing into the streets, and shoppers at a city mall screamed in panic. Shopkeeper Heidi Romero said the experience was unbelievable and that she did not know how long it lasted.\n\nThe strongest tremors in earthquake-prone Venezuela's recent history occurred in the northeast in 1997, killing 73 people, and in Caracas in 1967, when 236 people died.",
  "title": "Venezuelans trapped alive after twin quakes kill at least 164"
}