On June 24, 2026, the city of La Guaira, Venezuela, was struck by a pair of massive earthquakes, causing catastrophic destruction and overwhelming emergency services. The first quake, measured at magnitude 7.2, hit west of Caracas, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor. The double impact caused entire neighborhoods to flatten, but it also affected the capital city of Caracas, where dozens of buildings collapsed.
Within minutes of the two almost simultaneous tremors, drones began playing a crucial role in the search and rescue while also beginning to evaluate the soundness of adjacent structures and transportation infrastructure needed in the aftermath. In this presentation, we will show satellite images of the before and after, the quantification of the damage caused by the quakes, and videos that show the violence of the tremors, the way certain buildings collapsed, and the digital twins created in record time to demonstrate that the required infrastructure could be used.
