Neighbours dig through rubble in search of loved ones
Megan Janetsky, Andry Rincon And Juan Pablo Arraez
Updated ,first published
La Guaira: Neighbors in cities across northern Venezuela helped dig through rubble to search for loved ones after back-to-back earthquakes that authorities said killed more than 500 people and injured thousands more.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the official death toll rose from 235 to 589 on Friday morning (Venezuelan time), while 2,980 people were injured. That figure was fewer than the 4,300 people Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado previously reported to state media. While it was reported that thousands of people were missing and intensive rescue efforts were continuing, the death toll was expected to increase.
“We will save the trapped people,” Rodríguez said Friday. “We are working tirelessly on this mission.”
The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that occurred on Wednesday evening were among the strongest earthquakes in Venezuela in more than a century and were felt throughout the region.
The injured were pulled out from under the debris covered in dust and blood. Venezuelan state television broadcast dramatic rescue footage, including one of a woman trapped under a cement slab with only her bare foot visible before rescuers pulled her out alive. However, initially very few government search parties were seen outside Caracas.
The coastal region of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas, suffered some of the heaviest damage and loss of life. The country’s main airport is located there and has been closed due to damage, complicating relief efforts.
Many people were stunned Thursday morning to see buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging from windows and helicopters circling overhead. Buildings were destroyed and streets were torn apart.
Families posted missing persons flyers with photos of their loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched. Venezuelans abroad had difficulty communicating with their relatives due to the interruption of phone service in the country.
In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night gathering in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
Dayana Delgado, a mother of three, asked where the heavy machinery promised by government officials was and said residents were the ones digging up the crumpled buildings.
“I want to know where my child is, whether he is stranded or in a shelter,” he said of his missing eight-year-old son.
A mother cried and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and taken away. Others shouted the names of missing persons. Some remained in silent shock.
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters: A 1999 landslide killed thousands of people and is considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño looked at his burned-out apartment building leaning precariously to one side.
“I lost everything,” he said. “I think there are still people inside who can’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”
Retired teacher Juan Alberto Mendaño was climbing through the rubble and passing a body in La Guaira when he saw a trapped woman waving for help.
“May God save him as quickly as possible,” Mendaño said. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”
The natural disaster was the latest challenge for former vice president Rodríguez, who took office in January after then-President Nicolás Maduro was captured and removed from power by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic turmoil for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement that Rodriguez represents.
Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in his address to the nation late Wednesday. He said the government had set up a US$200 million ($290 million) reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.
On Thursday he appealed to businesses to provide heavy construction equipment for rescue operations.
“We hope to save as many living people as possible,” Rodríguez said.
While Venezuela is located near numerous fault lines, its location between the South American and Caribbean plates means that strong earthquakes are much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
The U.S. Geological Survey said both earthquakes occurred near Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers west of Caracas.
The one-two punch of earthquakes combined with shallow seismic movements increases the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Brazilian Geological Survey.
“It’s like I’m screaming and then someone starts screaming too. This amplifies the vibration and increases the potential danger,” Ferreira said.
Shortly after United Nations officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people could access potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024 in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information between those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.
Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal and Canada pledged to send aid. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodríguez after the earthquake, said the United States would send aid immediately but acknowledged that the closure of Venezuela’s main airport created logistical difficulties.
“It’s a whole government response. It’s going to be big, it’s going to be fast, it’s going to be effective,” Rubio said.
Rescue teams from Mexico, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived in Venezuela on Thursday, along with an aid plane from Mexico.
“No country is ready to react appropriately. That’s what neighboring countries are there for,” said Dominican Air Force Major Carlos Olivares.
The Venezuelan diaspora was also helping. In Ecuador, Félix Rodríguez said his store received donations from Ecuadorians as well as Venezuelan friends.
“My business is always ready for whatever Venezuela needs,” he said.
Gabby Graham said she regularly sends money from Spokane, Washington, to Venezuela via peer-to-peer payments to a local business that provides cash to her family. However, the owner of the business has not been found since the earthquake and he has not been able to share the money for food, water, medicine and toiletries.
“I don’t think this has been easy for them for years. It’s even worse now because it’s about finding these things,” Graham said.
