Venezuela Earthquakes 2026

As of Nov. 5, 2026, Direct Relief has delivered 74 tons of medical aid worth $39 million (wholesale) to health partners in Venezuela, and disbursed $550,000 in emergency grants to seven Venezuelan organizations, following the June 24 earthquakes that killed at least 6,509 people in the country’s north-central states.

In Brief

6,509 people killed, 226,696 treated in hospitals and 6,462 rescued alive across eight states (Government of Venezuela official figures, Aug. 24)

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Direct Relief has delivered 74 tons of medical aid worth $39 million (wholesale) and disbursed $550,000 in emergency grants to seven Venezuelan organizations (as of Nov. 5, 2026)

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Your donation will be dedicated entirely to Venezuela earthquake response efforts.

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Supporting Medical Care in Venezuela’s Earthquake-Affected States

On June 24, two earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck near Yumare, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Caracas. The U.S. Geological Survey issued a red alert, its highest level. About 2.8 million people felt very strong to violent shaking and about 10.5 million felt strong shaking or greater, across eight states with 14 million residents.

Steep terrain in coastal La Guaira and dense, older construction in Caracas drove widespread building collapse. That determined the medical picture: crush injuries, fractures, amputations, head and spinal trauma, and the acute kidney injury that follows crush syndrome — which is why kidney-care medicines are part of Direct Relief’s shipments.

Direct Relief’s Emergency Response in Venezuela

Direct Relief is supporting locally led medical response in Venezuela through two channels: medical aid shipments to health and humanitarian partners, and emergency grants that let partners cover what a shipment cannot.

• Medical aid. As of Nov. 5, 2026, Direct Relief has delivered 74 tons of medical aid worth $39 million (wholesale) to health partners in Venezuela. Earlier shipments, reported Sept. 23, included the following support: Seventy-two pallets of medicines, medical supplies, IV fluids, kidney-care medicines, nutritional products, medical-grade tents, protective equipment and hygiene kits are for Fundación Wayuu Taya in Caracas and Maracaibo. Sixty-nine are for PAHO Venezuela in Caracas, including medicines, medical supplies, hygiene kits and emergency medical backpacks. Sixty-five are for Cruz Roja Venezolana and Acción Solidaria in Caracas.
• Emergency funding. $550,000 to seven organizations: GREMCA, Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras and Medical IMPACT for search and rescue; AVESSOC for mobile health care, including primary, pediatric and gynecological care and mental health support; the Venezuelan American Medical Association (VAMA) for prosthetics, orthotics and rehabilitation; and Acción Solidaria and Fundación Wayuu Taya for warehousing and logistics.
• Local response support. Direct Relief supported health care in Venezuela for years before the earthquakes, including through Acción Solidaria and Fundación Wayuu Taya. Those relationships let Direct Relief ship to needs identified on the ground, through organizations already positioned to reach affected communities. On Aug. 31, Direct Relief COO Craig Redmond visited a temporary shelter camp and community distribution center in La Guaira with Fundación Wayuu Taya to hear directly from residents about their needs.

Direct Relief ships against requests from healthcare organizations that have assessed what they need. Priority health needs for the Venezuela response center on six categories:

• Emergency medical packs, protective equipment and water purification
• Trauma and surgical supplies — sutures, splints and orthopedic equipment
• Wound care and IV fluids — dressings and fluids for infected wounds and dehydration
• Antibiotics and tetanus prophylaxis
• Chronic-disease medicines for heart disease, diabetes and dialysis patients
• Rehabilitation supplies and prosthetics

Navigating Venezuela’s Access and Disaster Logistics

Damage to transport infrastructure can complicate the delivery of medical aid after an earthquake. Direct Relief ships against verified requests from qualified healthcare organizations and works with partners positioned to distribute aid in affected communities.

A Health System Already Stretched

Before the earthquakes, about half of Venezuela’s operating rooms were out of service and most hospitals lacked basic medicines and surgical supplies, according to the 2025 National Hospital Survey. Roughly a third of the country’s physicians have emigrated. Venezuela ranked 186th of 195 countries on the 2021 Global Health Security Index.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs counted 7.9 million people in severe humanitarian need in December 2025. The UN estimates the earthquakes pushed about 1.3 million more into need. A post-disaster needs assessment by the government, UNDP, the European Union and the World Bank puts recovery needs at $21 billion (Sept. 16).

Phases of Disaster and Health Response

The health consequences of an earthquake extend well beyond the first days.

• Immediate response. Search and rescue, trauma and crush-injury care, surgery, antibiotics, and supplies for emergency medical teams and first responders. Direct Relief funded three search-and-rescue organizations in the first days.
• Displacement and disease risk. Safe water, sanitation, vaccination, disease surveillance and infection prevention help protect displaced communities.
• Continuity of care. People still need heart, diabetes and dialysis medicines. Ischemic heart disease and type 2 diabetes rank first and third among Venezuela’s causes of death and disability. A disrupted supply chain shows up in those numbers before it shows up in a headline.
• Recovery. Rehabilitation, prosthetics, mental health services and restored access to primary care — priorities identified by Venezuelan health organizations, not assumed from outside.

Direct Relief’s response will evolve with those needs. The objective is not simply to replace what was damaged, but to help local providers maintain and restore their ability to care for patients.

Direct Relief has also responded to the medical needs of major earthquakes worldwide, including the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Support Venezuela Earthquake Response

Direct Relief supports health partners with requested medical aid and emergency funding throughout recovery, including rehabilitation, chronic-disease treatment, mental health support and access to primary care.