:MOMENT 24 June 2026, 6:04 PM local time Northwestern Venezuela. Two earthquakes, 39 seconds apart. The strongest \ :STATS :COUNTER 2,595 confirmed deaths and counting :INFO What is an earthquake doublet A doublet is a rare seismic event in which two distinct earthquakes strike nearly the same location within seconds of each other, with similar magnitudes and virtually identical seismic waveforms. The Venezuela events on 24 June arrived just 39 seconds apart, with epicentres only 10 km apart. Seismologists say they represent a single rupture episode on the same fault, not two coincidental events. The 7.5 struck first at 6:04 PM local time, followed immediately by the 7.2. Together they produced shaking equivalent to a single magnitude well above either event alone. Venezuela had not experienced anything close to this power since a magnitude 7.7 in 1900. | :CHECKLIST How the disaster unfolded: day by day [ ] 1. 24 June 2026: Twin earthquakes 7.5 and 7.2 strike near La Guaira at 6:04 PM local time, 39 seconds apart [ ] 2. 24 to 25 June: First rescue teams reach coastal cities Macuto and Caraballeda. At least 188 confirmed dead overnight [ ] 3. 25 June: Tsunami warning issued for Caribbean coast, later downgraded. Death toll passes 235 [ ] 4. 26 June: Death toll exceeds 589. Satellite imagery shows Residencia Nautilus apartment block flattened [ ] 5. 27 June: NASA and Oregon State release preliminary estimate of 58,870 buildings damaged or destroyed [ ] 6. 28 June: US State Department announces $150 million in aid. Over 900 US personnel deployed in-country [ ] 7. 29 June: Death toll surpasses 1,700. USGS PAGER system warns final count could exceed 10,000 [ ] 8. 1 July: Confirmed deaths reach 2,295. Hopes of finding survivors underground fade sharply [ ] 9. 3 July: Death toll at 2,595. UN projects $6.7 billion in direct physical damage, roughly 6% of GDP :IMAGE.half :NOTE La Guaira state bore the worst of the destruction. The 12-storey Residencia Nautilus apartment block became the defining image of the disaster: satellite before-and-after imagery showed the seafront building entirely collapsed, with dozens of residents still believed trapped beneath. Caraballeda, a coastal town outside Caracas, lost multiple high-rise hotels and residential blocks. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 1,423 pieces of infrastructure we :NOTE The international response has been described as one of the largest US disaster deployments in years. Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue and the Los Angeles County task force were among the first teams on the ground. The UN Development Programme puts direct physical damage at $6.7 billion, roughly 6 percent of Venezuelan GDP. Risk modeller Verisk places total economic losses above $10 billion, a figure that does not account for the longer-term economic disruption in a country already under s :LINK https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/03/venezuela-earthquakes-death-toll-rises-rescue-efforts-continue.html CNBC: Venezuela quake toll climbs to 2,595 as damage estimates mount :LINK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Venezuela_earthquakes Wikipedia: 2026 Venezuela earthquakes (full reference)