Two powerful earthquakes in Venezuela have turned into an early test of Washington’s disaster aid system after the Trump administration shifted foreign emergency response duties away from USAID and into the State Department.
The quakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast on Wednesday evening, June 24, first with a magnitude of 7.2 and then, 39 seconds later, a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Venezuelan authorities said by the next morning that 164 people had died and more than 1,000 had been injured.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the death toll could climb much higher. Images from the affected areas showed collapsed buildings, damaged apartment blocks and rescue workers pulling people from rubble near Caracas and other densely populated areas.
Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, declared a state of emergency and said Caracas’s Simón Bolívar International Airport had been closed because of damage. Several countries in the region have offered aid.
President Donald Trump said the “U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help!” and said he had directed federal agencies to prepare a fast response. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was deploying search-and-rescue teams and that Trump had “made a full commitment to being supportive of Venezuela.”
The response is being watched because the administration has dismantled USAID and moved U.S. foreign disaster assistance functions to the State Department. Jeremy Lewin, undersecretary of state for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedoms, said a U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team would deploy to Venezuela to “deliver and coordinate critical assistance to the Venezuelan people.”
The teams are expected to include urban search-and-rescue specialists from Fairfax, Virginia and Los Angeles, along with trained dogs, rescue tools and medical equipment. The State Department also maintains emergency supplies in Miami, including tarps, blankets, hygiene kits and food.
