Summary

  • More search and rescue teams are arriving in Venezuela, but hopes are fading of finding survivors after Wednesday's back-to-back earthquakes

  • At least 1,450 are known to have died but the number is expected to rise - a missing persons website has more than 46,000 people on it

  • The walls outside hospitals in Caracas are slowly filling up with pictures of the missing, reports Yogita Limaye from the Venezuelan capital

  • There is still a shortage of machinery needed to lift rubble, and some Venezuelans say the government hasn't done enough

  • One man says he pulled his daughter halfway out of the rubble but now needs equipment to finish the rescue

  • The Venezuelan president, Delcy Rodríguez, says power has been restored to La Guaira, one of the worst affected areas - adding the government will not rest until it has found everyone who can be rescued

Live Reporting

Edited by Rorey Bosotti with Yogita Limaye reporting from Caracas

  1. Tens of thousands remain missing as rescue efforts continue

    A list of names of missing persons is written on a car in an area affected by the earthquake in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, 28 June 2026EPA

    In the coastal city of Catia La Mar, near Caracas, the names of some of the missing have been written on the rear window of a car

    So far, Venezuelan officials have confirmed that 1,450 people have died following the quakes, however, we do not yet know the actual figure.

    Immediately following the two earthquakes, the US Geological Survey's (USGS) estimated the potential fatalities at likely between 10,000 and 100,000.

    This is not an exact figure but is calculated based off the size of the quake and the population in the affected area to help emergency responders deploy resources effectively.

    The Venezuelan government has not yet provided an estimate of the total fatalities, but with tens of thousands believed to still be missing, the death toll is expected to climb further as rescue operations continue.

    A civilian-run missing persons site is reporting that more than 46,000 people remain unreachable by family members.

  2. Two 11-year-olds and a teenager rescued from the rubble hours after quakes

    US rescue teams in Fairfax County Urban Seach and Rescue jackets work on a teenager pulled out of the rubble a crowd observing in the backgroundReuters

    US rescuers helped pull a teenager from the rubble over 90 hours after the double earthquakes struck

    Among those rescued at the weekend were two 11-year-old boys, who were separately rescued from collapsed buildings within hours of each other on Sunday.

    Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) pulled 11-year-old boy Moises from under about 3m (9.8ft) of debris.

    Reuters reported that a rescuer was overheard on a walkie-talkie saying the young boy was found near his sister and mother, who had both died.

    Hours later,interim President Delcy Rodríguezposted a video on X, purportedly showing the rescue of a second 11-year-old boy in the town of Caraballeda.

    American and French rescue teams also pulled a man and his teenage son from the rubble in La Guaira.

    A French rescuer says they are "extremely weak" and that teams are doing "everything we can to rehydrate them".

  3. 33 survivors found - but number of dead rises to 1,450

    A rescue dog from the Argentine search and rescue team searches for bodies in the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira state, Venezuela, on June 28, 2026Reuters

    At least 1,450 people have died following the two earthquakes that hit Venezuela on Wednesday, according to the latest update from officials.

    On Sunday evening, top lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez announced that a further 3,150 have been injured, saying rescuers were now in the "critical hours" to save lives.

    He added that 774 buildings have been collapsed or been impacted by the quakes and that a total of 12,721 people have been displaced.

    Speaking to foreign rescuers on Sunday evening, interim President Delcy Rodriguez said 33 people had been rescued over the weekend.

    Earlier on Sunday, Unicef estimated that 1.8 million people were in need of humanitarian aid following the incident, including 680,000 children.

    The United Nations Development programme also estimated the cost of the "direct physical damage" at $6.7bn (£5.1bn), or about 6% of the country's GDP.

  4. 'I pulled my daughter halfway out of the rubble - now I need equipment'

    Wilker Molaya in an orange hi-vi jacket clamours as he holds on to the back of a woman in an helmet, a severely damaged building behind himReuters

    Wilker Molaya has been desperately trying to rescue his daughter after the building she was in collapsed in La Guaira during last week's double earthquakes in Venezuela.

    "I pulled my daughter halfway out," he tells the Reuters news agency, but adds: "They don't give us any equipment, and we have families there."

    Molaya isn't the only one still trying to rescue family from the rubble. Hector Villegas says his ex-wife, his son-in-law's mother and his eldest grandson where inside a building when the quake hit.

    "Since that day, we haven't been able to locate their bodies," Villegas says. "I see that rescue efforts are under way and we'll be here waiting."

    Mexican Red Cross volunteer Adalberto Pastor says rescuers are now using electronic equipment to locate people after first relying on search dogs.

    "We are currently continuing the search using electronic equipment, which allows us to be more certain about the locations that the dog teams may have already detected," Pastor says.

  5. Power restored in large part of La Guaira, Rodríguez says

    Rodríguez speaks from a podium on stageReuters

    Delcy Rodríguez speaking earlier this month before the earthquakes hit

    A large part of La Guaira state - one of the worst affected areas - has been reconnected to the power grid, acting President Delcy Rodríguez says.

    In an update posted a few hours ago on social media, she says the government has also restored most of the road network there, and is progressively restoring water supplies.

    A presidential commission has been set up to assess homes and infrastructure, she says, and a task force has been created to set up temporary shelters.

    Planning is also under way for projects to build news housing on short time frames, she says.

    Search rescues are ongoing, and the government will not rest until it locates everyone who can be rescued, she says, ending her posts with a message of "hope for all Venezuelans".

    As we've been reporting, there is growing anger with the government in Venezuela - with opposition leaders and ordinary Venezuelans accusing it of responding too slowly.

  6. Families search for loved ones while anger at government grows

    Yogita Limaye
    Reporting from Caracas

    A shows a picture of a missing person and looks visibly upset, while behind her a man searches a wall with information posted on itGetty Images

    The walls outside hospitals in Caracas are slowly filling up with pictures of the missing.

    By the hour, families tack up more photos desperately looking for information about their loved ones.

    The morgue in the capital is overwhelmed and as more bodies are brought in there is simply not enough space to store them, even until they can be identified and returned.

    Search and rescue operations continue in many areas, and while more relief teams are arriving in the country from different parts of the world every day, there is still an acute shortage of the equipment and manpower required to dig through the rubble.

    Anger against the Venezuelan government has been growing, as residents say it isn’t doing enough to help them.

    Our teams in Venezuela will bring you the latest news and analysis on this page - stay with us.