After Twin Earthquakes in Venezuela, They Are Searching for Survivors Under the Rubble

Maria, 32, was in her third-floor apartment in Karakas when the earthquake struck, noticing the walls shaking. The television shook and the furniture crashed to the floor. In the bathroom, the earthquake tore a water heater from the wall, causing water to flood out of the apartment. Maria ran barefoot down the stairs, taking her phone with her. Within minutes, the power went out and the phone signal completely disappeared. Because she feared government retaliation, Maria asked TIME not to use her real name. She said no one around her knew how much of the city had been damaged or how many people were trapped under the rubble.

Maria calmly asked what they needed to do and witnessed that most people did not panic. Within hours, the response pulled her on a motorcycle in Karakas from one damaged building to another. Maria checked on her friends' relatives and, together with other residents, carried more than 120 buckets of rubble. Eventually, they helped rescue a middle-aged man alive from a collapsed building. As Maria walked, she began to see that all the walls were on the ground and all the buildings had collapsed. Relatives of the people who had lived there were shouting out names.

However, the next day the disaster became personal. A family member told Maria that they could not reach her cousin in the coastal town of Caraballeda in La Guaira state. This town was particularly hard hit by the twin earthquakes. Maria drove for hours toward the coast. When she reached the building where her cousin lived, it was so badly damaged that she had to ask neighbors if she had the right place. Aftershocks shook what was left of the structure. Search efforts continued until the sky darkened and the flashlight died. Soon, bodies pulled from the rubble by neighbors were lying out in the open. Maria put on a mask against the foul smell and laid on the ground. She said there was nothing else they could do and noted that they could not see anything.

Later, a professional rescue team from Spain arrived with acoustic detection devices and a trained dog. After searching for about 20 minutes, they told Maria and her neighbors that they had found no signs of life. One member of the team gently explained that, given the possibility of survivors still trapped elsewhere, the team needed to focus first on those who might still be alive. Maria remembered his words: “You are important. Your family is important. Your cousin is important and I am so sorry to say this, but you are not the priority right now, because the priority is rescuing the people who are still alive.”

After the rescue team left, Maria told her cousin that she had done all she could and said she hoped he was at peace. She prayed with tears and lost all her strength while crying; then she stopped and said they needed to help others. For Maria, these words marked a harsh dividing line between the living and the unreached dead after the earthquakes in Venezuela. At a rubble scene in Karakas, she wanted no one to hug her, because she knew she would cry if they did. However, Maria was ready to continue helping.

Two powerful earthquakes in Venezuela last week damaged the country's capital, Karakas, while completely devastating some areas of La Guaira state. At least 1.450 people lost their lives and more than 3.200 were injured. This disaster, following the migration, was further complicated by the interruption caused by the arrest of the interim government of former President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the death toll was highly likely to exceed 10.000. This disaster, following the migration, was further complicated by the interruption caused by the arrest of the interim government of former President Nicolás Maduro. With collapsed apartment buildings, downed power lines, and uninvolved rescue systems compared to the disaster, it was a catastrophe that deepened the humanitarian crisis in the country. The country was already struggling with years of political and economic turmoil.