Venezuela earthquake: Staggering destruction is urgent warning for California over seismic risk
Key takeaways
- The devastation from two massive earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday offer a stark warning for California and other seismically vulnerable areas of the toll catastrophic shaking can bring to urban areas.
- It will take days to assess the full scope of the damage.
- “Looking through the photos that have been coming through the news, it looks like most of the buildings that we’re seeing that have collapsed are non-ductile concrete buildings,” Mohammed said.
A damaged building at Los Palos Grandes after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela. (Jesus Vargas / Getty Images) By Rong-Gong Lin II Staff Writer Follow June 24, 2026 9:57 PM PT 12 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X Linked In Threads Reddit Whats App Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
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The devastation from two massive earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday offer a stark warning for California and other seismically vulnerable areas of the toll catastrophic shaking can bring to urban areas.