Venezuela reported collapsed buildings and emergency measures, while Japan said its offshore quake posed no tsunami danger.
CARACAS, VENEZUELA — Two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on Wednesday evening, followed within minutes by a strong offshore quake near northern Japan, sending officials in both countries into damage checks and rescue planning as residents waited for clearer reports on injuries and losses.
The sharpest concern centered on Venezuela, where the U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 7.2 foreshock and a magnitude 7.5 mainshock near Morón, west of Caracas. The quakes were shallow, increasing the risk of severe shaking. Buildings collapsed in parts of the capital, the main international airport was damaged, and national leaders declared an emergency while crews began searching rubble.
The Venezuelan quakes struck shortly after 6 p.m. local time, during a national holiday marking the Battle of Carabobo. The USGS placed the larger quake 16 kilometers southwest of Morón at a depth of 10 kilometers. The first strong jolt came less than a minute before it. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said in a televised address that the government was moving emergency teams into damaged areas. “We ask the population to remain calm and united,” Rodríguez said, while also urging people to leave unsafe structures.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said state broadcaster VTV had received reports of collapsed homes and buildings in several hard-hit areas. He said some scenes were “very alarming” and warned that aftershocks could bring down structures already weakened by the shaking. In Caracas, witnesses described dust rising from damaged neighborhoods, people running into streets and families gathering in open spaces. The worst reported damage was in the capital and nearby coastal areas, including La Guaira, where Venezuela’s main international airport sits near the Caribbean coast.
Officials had not released a confirmed death toll by early Thursday, and the full number of injured and missing people remained unclear. Reports from Falcón state listed at least 22 injured, while rescue crews in Caracas searched collapsed buildings for people believed to be trapped. Rodríguez said the airport had suffered severe damage, and officials halted metro and train service while engineers inspected tracks, stations and tunnels. Hospitals prepared for more patients as emergency workers moved through neighborhoods with blocked roads and broken walls.
The USGS issued a red alert for Venezuela, a warning level that signals high odds of major casualties and heavy economic losses. Such alerts are based on quake strength, depth, population exposure and building vulnerability, not only on confirmed field reports. The agency’s early model warned that deaths could be significant, but officials in Venezuela had not confirmed that scale. A brief tsunami concern for nearby Caribbean areas was later dropped, leaving the main dangers tied to collapsed buildings, unstable hillsides, damaged roads and aftershocks.
The damage added pressure to a country already facing deep public-service and infrastructure problems. Venezuela has seen damaging earthquakes before, including a deadly 1967 Caracas quake that killed hundreds and left parts of the capital scarred. Wednesday’s sequence appeared much stronger. The location near the Caribbean coast placed heavy shaking close enough to Caracas to rattle towers, old apartment blocks and hillside homes. The holiday timing also meant many families were at home or gathered in public places when the shaking began.
Across the Pacific, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off northern Japan on Thursday morning local time. The USGS placed the quake 35 kilometers east-northeast of Kuji at a depth of 51.7 kilometers. Japan’s meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami. The quake rattled an area where strong offshore earthquakes have been reported repeatedly in recent months, including events that brought special caution to parts of the northeast coast. Early alerts pointed to limited damage risk, though officials still checked transportation, power and coastal facilities.
The Japan quake was separate from the Venezuelan sequence. Large earthquakes can occur close together in time without being directly connected, especially along different plate boundaries thousands of miles apart. Japan’s northeast coast lies near one of the world’s most active seismic zones, where the Pacific plate dives beneath the region. Venezuela’s northern coast also sits in a complex zone where major crustal plates meet. In both places, the first official figures were subject to revision as seismologists reviewed sensor data.
In Venezuela, the next steps were focused on rescue work, hospital capacity and inspections of transport systems. Crews were expected to keep searching damaged buildings through the night and into Thursday. Authorities also faced the task of deciding when to reopen the damaged airport and restart train service. In Japan, agencies continued routine checks for rail, port and utility disruptions after the offshore shaking. No tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, and early damage expectations were far lower than in Venezuela.
Residents in Caracas described a long night of fear after the twin shocks. Olky Barrero, a teacher who helped outside a collapsed building, said the shaking made walls move as if they would fall. Other families waited near rubble for word on relatives. In Japan, the stronger safeguards and deeper offshore quake helped limit early concern, but the tremor revived memories of past disasters along the Sanriku coast. Officials in both countries said aftershocks remained possible.
By early Thursday, Venezuela remained under emergency response, with damage still being counted and rescue teams working in Caracas and coastal states. Japan reported no tsunami danger after its quake near Kuji. The next major update was expected after daylight inspections and official casualty reports.
Author note: Last updated June 24, 2026.