Venezuela Earthquakes Kill 32, Injure 700 in Deadliest Tremors This Century

Venezuela experienced its most severe earthquakes in decades on Wednesday, with tremors in the central region causing at least 32 deaths and injuring 700 people. The quakes are the deadliest to hit the country since a 1997 event in Sucre state, which claimed 73 lives and injured around 500.

The recent seismic activity has brought to mind other major earthquakes that have struck Venezuela throughout history. In 1967, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake near Caracas killed 245 people and caused extensive damage. Decades earlier, in 1929, a powerful magnitude 6.9 quake and subsequent tsunami devastated the city of Cumaná, resulting in 800 fatalities. Another significant tremor in 1950 near El Tocuyo killed about 100 people and nearly destroyed the town.

While smaller seismic events have occurred in recent years, including two magnitude 5.1 earthquakes in Mérida in 2015 that each caused one death, the latest tremors are the most devastating. The most intense quake in the last decade, felt across several states in August 2018, caused material damage to buildings in Caracas and eastern Venezuela. In September 2025, a series of 189 seismic events in western Venezuela, particularly in Zulia, damaged homes and infrastructure like hospitals and bridges.