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Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president of Venezuela, declared a constitutional state of emergency on Wednesday following two earthquakes measuring 7.1 and 7.5 that struck the northern part of the country just 40 seconds apart, causing essential services to collapse and public transportation to come to a standstill in the capital.
Rodríguez appeared on national television via VTV around 9:45 PM to report that the most affected areas are Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and Carabobo, severely hit by the double seismic event whose epicenter was located near Morón in Carabobo state and Yumare in Yaracuy, about 170 km west of the capital and at a depth of between 10 and 13 km.
Among the most urgent measures, the official announced the complete closure of the Maiquetía International Airport in La Guaira due to "severe damage to its structure."
The Caracas Metro and the Tuy Valley Railways were also out of service, while electricity and water services were reported to be "severely affected" in multiple areas of the country, according to Rodríguez herself.
To coordinate the response to the crisis, the acting president appointed Major Sulbarán as the sole authority of the Venezuelan state in the face of the emergency.
Rodríguez also suspended school classes starting Thursday and made an explicit call to doctors and nurses to continue their work "in light of this national contingency."
The official also reported that multilateral organizations had already reached out to the interim government to offer assistance if needed.
The collapsed buildings in Caracas following the earthquakes were focused in the areas of Los Palos Grandes, San Bernardino, and Altamira, with images showing fallen walls, furniture exposed to the street, and clouds of dust over densely populated neighborhoods.
Various sources report figures ranging from 100 to over 236 dead and more than 2,000 injured, although Venezuelan authorities had not provided confirmed official numbers by the time the initial reports were released.
The two earthquakes measuring above 7.0 also triggered tsunami warnings for Venezuela, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Puerto Rico, and the British Virgin Islands, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The seismic series that culminated in this devastating double event is said to have begun on June 14, 2026, according to the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research, and the tremors were felt even in Colombian cities such as Barranquilla.
Venezuela was already facing a water emergency in the state of Sucre due to an earthquake that occurred in February 2026, which collapsed a reservoir. In May of this year, the UN allocated two million dollars for this situation, further exacerbating the country's capacity to respond to this new disaster.
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