Posted on 06/25/2026 9:37:58 AM PDT by Morgana
Harrowing footage has revealed the extent of the damage and chaos inflicted on Venezuela by a pair of massive earthquakes last night.
The back-to-back 7.1 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck near the coast, sending terrified residents racing out from swaying apartment blocks as walls collapsed and clouds of dust rose over the capital.
'High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,' the US Geological Survey said, 'with an initial death toll estimate likely between 10,000 and 100,000.'
On Thursday, Venezuelan authorities said at least 164 people had been killed, while hundreds more have been injured.
The quakes are among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century, although strong earthquakes are unusual in the country.
In one particularly shocking video, a building's façade collapsed on a busy street, forcing people to flee in terror.
Venezuelan citizens were heard screaming in terror, and seen running for their lives, catching each other if they fell down.
A huge wave of dust and debris was kicked up, seemingly blinding those on the street.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
Amen
The Altamira and Las Mercedes areas of southern Caracas had more pretty girls than almost anywhere I traveled late 80s
Just 1000s of them club crawling
A big place called Weekends with a round bar was crazy
I enjoyed being there a lot
Great food too
Almost went permanent with a girl from Maracaibo
After 30 years of Communist rule, I suspect there were very few buildings that could survive 2 big earthquakes.
Sadly...there’s no reason for people to visit the Caracas Zoo looking for sources of protein because the zoo was emptied years ago.
My guess is that their practices changed dramatically not long after I left...no more rich Venezuelans.
Yes
I knew the owner of a private hospital eastern shore of lake Maracaibo
His daughter married a Cuban friend of mine in Miami
The equivalent of white flight from Venezuela was in high gear
We have a fair number here in music city
Shame
Historically, by far the greatest casualties occur when an earthquake causes a large tsunami. The Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami are a prime, and horrific, example.
BTW, check out this vid, taken ~ 500 km away from these Venezuelan quakes. Maybe skip “in” a few minutes. The right geology and soils can carry quake energy a long way...
I’m glad I wasn’t on that shoreline, building or no.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M8UpZYz4ss
Fatalities are nearing 1000. :-(
Good point. I don't know how well the geology and soils carry the ground waves in this case, but it seems to be substantial. (Parts of the US Midwest are extremely "efficient", as seen in the 1811-12 New Madrid quakes.)
Check out the vid I linked to just above - maybe skip a few minutes into it. It's ~500 freaking kilometers away from the Venezuelan quakes' epicenters.
Impressive video, thanks!
Trinidad.
I did a project on the Venezuela side of the Gulf of Paria. The foundation is mud for hundreds of feet. To build mooring dolphins we lowered, without resistance, 9 5/8 casing nearly 300 feet. All that earth eroded from around the Tapuis went somewhere.
Try building facilities for seismic activity on such terrain.
“murphy’s War” was filmed in the area we were working.
Yah, I know that not too far from here there are areas where bedrock is over 500 ft. down. Yeesh.
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