# As if Venezuela hasn't been through enough: 7.2 and 7.5 quakes (6/24/26) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2026, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171 "2026-06-25T02:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/1 "2026-06-25T02:25:22Z")
I just heard on MSNOW that high casualties (as in 10,000 fatalities or more) are predicted. I sure hope that is not the case, and haven’t heard anything about tsunami alerts from this quake, or for that matter from the 6.9 that struck off the coast of Japan earlier today. The Venezuelan epicenters appear to be about 100 miles west of Caracas, which had serious damage of its own. The city of Valencia, population about 1 million, is in between. > **[Strong earthquakes hit Venezuela as buildings collapse in Caracas - follow live](https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c621z18wznet)** > > The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes caused panic in the capital as residents evacuated. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/2 "2026-06-25T03:22:11Z")
The videos have been horrific. I saw one that was supposedly from the airport - **Maiquetía** and it’s in ruins. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/3 "2026-06-25T07:37:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > haven’t heard anything about tsunami alerts from this quake Earthquakes need to be under water to cause tsunamis. Even if it were, this wouldn’t really be strong enough to cause a serious one. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/4 "2026-06-29T21:30:56Z")
A 4.6 today (6/29). > **[Earthquakes Today in Venezuela - Recent Seismic Activity](https://earthquaketoday.net/venezuela)** > > Live updates of today's earthquakes in Venezuela. View recent seismic activity with magnitudes, depths, epicenter locations, and interactive earthquake maps. Updated continuously. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/5 "2026-06-29T21:44:19Z")
A 4.6 is nothing, compared with a 7something. That’s at the level of “Hey, did you feel the earthquake?”. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/6 "2026-06-29T21:48:16Z")
Certainly true, but I think of it a bit as if it were a boxing match. The last blow doesn’t have to be the strongest blow if the other guy’s already battered and beaten and just about to go down. As is so often the case on the heels of an earthquake, particularly if (and I don’t know if this is the case in that part of Venezuela) the building codes aren’t really up to the gold standard in seismic areas. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/7 "2026-06-29T23:04:40Z")
To be honest, I’m dubious as to how much the building codes are adhered to there. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/8 "2026-06-29T23:11:52Z")
Yeah. That’s exactly right. Adherence and compliance, in most of the world, are pretty much never going to _exceed_ the laws and regulations. And Venezuela has been economically devastated for quite a while now. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/9 "2026-06-30T02:01:50Z")
> More than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble, according to survivors. > > A deportation flight from Miami arrived in Venezuela hours before Wednesday’s earthquakes. On board were 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and seven children, according to ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First, which tracks deportation flights. They were transported to a hotel in La Guaira. > > Lisbeth Portillo, 58, said she escaped the rubble from the hotel with about 20 other deportees who walked the streets looking for help. > **[More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the...](https://apnews.com/article/earthquake-venezuela-us-deportees-immigration-hotel-survived-783140c04b418de2308f548402ace9af?__vfz)** > > Survivors say more than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/10 "2026-06-30T02:05:58Z")
I do wonder what happened in some of the big lakes in the region. That could be interesting. I, too have seen the footage of the apartment buildings/hotels that simply toppled over like kids’ blocks. They’re STILL finding people alive in the wreckage, although I suspect this isn’t going to happen for much longer. We’re on the 6th day. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/11 "2026-06-30T06:51:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I do wonder what happened in some of the big lakes in the region. That could be interesting. People with swimming pools report the water in them really sloshing around during a big quake. The big tsunamis happen though when a strip of land hundreds of miles long and fifty feet or so wide under two miles of water just disappears. All of that water needs to be redistributed over the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/12 "2026-07-18T11:11:43Z")
Here’s some NASA analysis of how much the ground moved and stayed moved as an immediate result of the earthquake. > **[Where Venezuela’s Earthquakes Shifted the Ground - NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/where-venezuelas-earthquakes-shifted-the-ground/)** > > Radar data from the NISAR satellite show that La Guaira and nearby areas experienced significant ground displacement from the June 2026 temblors. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/as-if-venezuela-hasnt-been-through-enough-7-2-and-7-5-quakes-6-24-26/1031171/13 "2026-09-30T16:09:42Z")
> Scientists had warned the government not to build along [Venezuela’s](https://apnews.com/hub/venezuela) coastal strip of La Guaira. > > The area’s seaside Caribbean communities, not far from Caracas, were near a major fault line and a mountain range that had unleashed [repeated, destructive natural disasters](https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/families-still-searching-loved-ones-month-after-venezuela-earthquakes-photos-0fdffd85be734f03b624563c1970e04b). The soil was poor, a type of silt that would only amplify shaking in an earthquake. > > Ignoring the advice, the government threw up exactly the wrong kind of buildings for that location: tall concrete apartment complexes. > **[AP investigation: Warnings ignored as Venezuela coastal towers faced quake...](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-la-guaira-apartments-collapse-earthquake-596380b06d00a8c4832081b4d43677fe)** > > Scientists had warned the government not to build along Venezuela’s coastal strip of La Guaira. The area’s seaside Caribbean communities, not far from Caracas, were near a major fault line and a mountain range that had unleashed repeated, destructive...