Photos: See Venezuela destruction after earthquakes

NPR | By John Otis

Published June 25, 2026 at 1:44 PM CDT

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A man carries a mattress past damaged residential buildings following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas, on June 25, 2026.

Search and rescue crews are pulling survivors from the rubble after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela less than a minutes apart last night.

The earthquakes were Venezuela's largest in over a century.

The epicenter was west of Caracas, but the destruction stretched across one of the country's most densely populated regions.

Officials say at least 164 people are dead as rescue crews continue searching thorugh collapsed buildings. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has declared a state of emergency, urging people to remain alert for aftershocks.

People react near a damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas.

People search through the rubble around a car trapped beneath the collapsed remains of a residential building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas.

People walk past a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on June 25, 2026.

Federico Parra / AFP via Getty Images

AFP via Getty Images

People search for survivors while others try to salvage belongings in a collapsed building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, some 30km north-west of Caracas.

Residents look at a damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas, on June 25, 2026.

A view shows the interior of a heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake.

Patients lie outside a hospital evacuated after it was damaged in an earthquake in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026.

A man looks out from a damaged apartment building following an earthquake.

A firefighter rescues a dog from a building that collapsed after an earthquake.

Damaged buildings stand a day after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela.

Residents walk among the rubble of building damaged in earthquakes the previous day in Catia La Mar, Venezuela.