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- On 24 June 2026, two consecutive earthquakes (M7.2 and M7.5) struck north-central Venezuela, affecting at least 7 states, with La Guaira the most severely impacted.
- Over 2,500 structures have sustained damage, with Maiquetía International Airport closed to commercial flights, Caracas Metro services suspended, and telecommunications unstable across affected areas.(1)
- Preliminary assessments across 8 health facilities indicate 3 have sustained structural damage with all 8 requiring immediate external support; report combined capacity of 1,220 beds, with Hospital Dr. Rafael Medina Jiménez (La Guaira) reporting the sharpest reduction in bed capacity (-67.6%).
- Vargas-IVSS Hospital is the highest-priority facility, with critical gaps including morgue overcrowding, non-operational ventilators, blood bank critically low (35 units), loss of connectivity, and 96 patients housed in an 8-bed ward.
- PAHO/WHO deployed four Regional Response Team specialists covering health emergency coordination, logistics, information management, EMT coordination, and rapid health facility assessment. In coordination with MoH, PAHO/WHO is supporting the virtual CICOM and EMT mobilization: 1 Type 3 EMT (Samaritan's Purse) is now operational in La Guaira, 3 EMTs are mobilizing; and 5 additional EMTs have been confirmed by MoH/CICOM and are ready to deploy.
- PAHO/WHO delivered 2.18 tons of medical supplies (trauma kits, inter-agency emergency health kit modules, PPE, and medical consumables) to the La Guaira Regional Health Directorate on 26 June, alongside 320 body bags. An additional 4-ton emergency shipment from PAHO's Strategic Reserve in Panama, comprising trauma kits, medicines, field equipment, and PPE, is expected to arrive imminently.
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