LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — A strong aftershock jolted Venezuela early Monday following last week’s devastating back-to-back earthquakes, as civilians and emergency responders kept combing through the ruins of fallen buildings for survivors.
The aftershock, which struck about 17 miles north of Caraballeda on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast at 7:01 a.m. local time, measured 4.6 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Colombia’s geological survey put the magnitude at 5.1.
Jorge Rodríguez, the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, said there were no immediate reports of additional damage from the quake, which sent residents in the capital of Caracas screaming into the streets.
“Here we are again, back in the street. I don’t know when we’ll have a moment of true peace,” said Concepción Hernández, 51, who evacuated her apartment building in the Chacao municipality of Caracas.
Monday’s tremor also convulsed the hard-hit port city of La Guaira, where local and international rescue teams have been racing against time since the twin earthquakes struck the northern state five days ago.
The government has reported 1,450 dead from the quakes as it faces growing criticism from Venezuelans that its response is inadequate and overshadowed by civilian-led efforts to rescue people buried under collapsed buildings. Thousands more people have been reported missing.
Even as the likelihood of finding people alive diminished with each passing hour, rescuers continued to free some survivors from debris, offering anguished families a sliver of hope. The first 48 to 72 hours after a natural disaster are crucial to rescue efforts, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said late Sunday that even as the time threshold passed, the search for survivors would continue. More than 2,600 rescue workers from around the world had arrived with trained search dogs and machinery, the government said.
Taylor Sheridan has lifted the lid on his writing process and motivations in a wide-ranging interview that saw him slam studio executives, critics and the city of Los Angeles. The man behind series including Yellowstone and Landman also admitted that he has no interest in winning Emmys for his work. Speaking on The Bill Simmons […]
This is the June 26, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe hereto get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
“Under Trump, you guys have two outcomes that an election can be: Either we win or they cheated. That shit has to stop.”
— Bill Maher to Vice President JD Vance
GUEST ESSAY BY JON MEACHAM
There’s a difference between celebration and commemoration.
As we mark 250 years of American independence, I know a lot of people don’t feel like celebrating right now. But let’s think about this act of remembrance as a way of contemplating where the country began — and how we’ve arrived where we are.
It would have surprised the founders that it took this long to get here. They would have called this an era of extreme passion. In their vernacular, passion and reason were opposites.
As Alexander Hamilton wrote in “The Federalist Papers,” the point of the American constitutional experiment was to see whether a government could be formed by reason and deliberation rather than by force and accident. Could there be a civil society governed by a rule of law that did not depend on coercion, but could exist by our common assent? One where, by surrendering a few rights and liberties — I can’t just come grab whatever I want — we create the conditions to live lives of prosperity and purpose?
Take a deep breath. Remember that we are doing this in July because of the Declaration of Independence — a ferocious political moment in the development of the West. It’s linked to Magna Carta and the Glorious Revolution, to an entire transformation of the understanding that kings, popes, prelates, and princes would be in charge — and that we, instead, would determine our own destinies.
Let’s focus on that. And remember: We can judge every era by the degree to which we live up to the Declaration of Independence, or fall away from it.
DANGEROUS HEAT INDEX TO INTENSIFY ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN U.S.
The heat wave is expected to last through the Fourth of July weekend.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
ON THIS DATE
On June 29, 2007, Apple released the first iPhone. The CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, was not impressed: “That is the most expensive phone in the world … it doesn’t have a keyboard, which makes it not a very good e-mail machine.”
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
WHAT THEY SAID
John Heilemann on Iran mocking Trump
“Iran’s actions suggest they don’t believe the president’s threats are going to come to pass. They understand that the president is operating according to a timetable, under the pressures of the midterm elections.”
Jonathan Martin on Democrats’ responses to Darializa Chevalier
“Both parties would rather focus on the other’s excesses. But you have to hold your own side accountable. Because if you don’t, the other party is going to jam you and tar your entire party.”
Jim Vandehei on the GOP following Trump
“There’s a real frustration with Trump. Republicans worry a lot about the base of the party turning on them as they take positions that just aren’t popular anymore. Little by little, they’re going to have to start thinking about their own survival.”
Skye Perryman on election manipulation
“The proposal would essentially enable the post office to refuse delivery of mail-in ballots to states that haven’t shared voter data. It’s completely unconstitutional. All of these plans the president has — they’re losing in court, before Republican-appointed and Democratic-appointed judges alike. There’s just no legal basis for what he’s trying to do.”
Roger Bennett on the World Cup
“It’s been a joy watching America fall in love with global football. But the other part of the story is the world falling in love with America. Scottish fans pouring into Boston, Norwegian fans being charmed by New York City, fans marveling at things we take for granted. For me, that is the legacy of this World Cup.”
EXTRA HOT TEA
$50
—The Medicare co-pay for GLP-1s starting Wednesday — a move that would make weight-loss drugs far cheaper than paying cash without insurance
ONE MORE SHOT
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
2026 New York City Pride March. Members of Gotham Cheer during the 2026 New York City Pride March on Sunday in New York City.
EXCLUSIVE: Running Man, a long-running Korean variety series, is eyeing a run in the U.S. The series, which is ostensibly a weekly game of tag, comes from Korean broadcaster SBS, which is working with Pippa Lambert’s Hellcat on a U.S. adaptation. The show launched in Korea in 2010 and with over 700 episodes, is a […]
An Argentine soccer player for a Venezuelan team lost his wife and two young children in the powerful twin earthquakes that struck the country last week.
Mike Cavanagh says NBCUniversal and Sky “fit well together and are set up for success” after Comcast completes its planned split. The Comcast Co-CEO and designated chief exec of the media entity spinning off from the cable and broadband side of the house conveyed his sentiments in a memo to staffers (read it in full […]
Luigi Mangione was back in court Monday … this time to learn when his federal trial is going to start … and he’s got about six months to prepare. Judge Garnett told the court a November start date isn’t going to work, “given jury selection” ……
Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered a sharp dissent from the bench on Monday after the court overturned a nearly century-old precedent on presidential firing power, arguing the majority’s decision grants President Trump and future presidents “unbridled authority” that undermines the separation of powers. “Put simply, today the majority reshapes our Government,” Sotomayor wrote in a…
The Governors Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a new producer. Producer and former Academy Producers Branch governor Jennifer Todd will take the reins of the 17th Governors Awards, Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor said Monday. It is Todd’s first time producing the event, which for the past seven years […]
