A Shocking Testimony on the Approaching 60th Anniversary of the 1967 Caracas Earthquake

Venezuelan journalist Marcial Fonseca, on the occasion of the approaching sixtieth anniversary of the 1967 Caracas earthquake, shares with his readers a highly personal memory in which he traces the marks of this disaster in his own life. The author begins his story with the visit he made with his entire family to the capital of Venezuela for the first time in 1961. This first trip of his family to the capital offers Fonseca, who was still a child at the time, both an exciting discovery and an opportunity to confront his country's history. Thanks to his father's careful driving choices, taking the old highway allows the writer to closely learn about the important historical sites related to Venezuela's struggle for independence. This retrospective introduction takes the reader to the foundations of the deep emotional bond the writer established with the capital, setting the stage for the main earthquake narrative.

Fonseca's relationship with Caracas takes a much more official turn with the journey he makes alone to the city in 1966, while in the fifth year of middle school, to take the entrance exams for the Faculty of Engineering at Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV). Settling in the capital in October of the same year to begin his university education, the writer soon finds himself at the center of the country's political and social upheavals of the time. His detention by Digepol (Venezuela National Security Directorate) when the police raided the university in December serves as a true 'police baptism' for him. Being forced to sleep standing up or crouching for four days in the famous detention rooms of the Las Brisas de Chaguaramos building with about six hundred other students reveals the oppressive atmosphere of that era. As a young engineering student, this traumatic experience plays a decisive role in shaping his life in the capital and increasing his sensitivity towards social events.

The year 1967 begins with the excitement of the fourth centenary celebrations of the founding of Caracas; however, in the shadow of these celebrations, a frightening prophecy predicting an impending disaster also begins to circulate. A fortune teller's words that a great disaster would occur in a South American metropolis celebrating an important date unfortunately come true in the later days of the same year. Fonseca is caught playing billiards in the basement of the Los Andes building near Sabana Grande boulevard when the earthquake strikes. Although the writer meets his game partner's shout of 'The ground is moving' with suspicion, panic quickly replaces it as everyone rushes to the exit to flee the building. This moment is not only that of a young student, but of an entire city, the terrifying moment in which their lives were redefined in a shocking second.

As they step outside and move towards the middle of the road for safety, the terrifying and deafening roar coming from El Ávila mountain makes them feel the magnitude of the earthquake and nature's destructive power in all its nakedness. Shaking off the initial shock, Fonseca sets off towards the Frailes area in the Catia neighborhood, where his parents were visiting his aunts, to ensure his family's safety. Finding them calm and safe removes a great weight from the young man's shoulders; however, the deep fear created by the disaster continues to spread rapidly in society. Although life seems to partially return to normal with the resumption of classes at the university, the traces of the trauma are profound. In particular, the desire of a classmate of Slavic origin, whom he encounters while studying on the university lawn, to stay away from the walls due to the intense anxiety he has felt since the earthquake clearly reveals the lasting effects of this tremor on people's psychology.

The accounts of this Slavic-origin friend serve as a bitter reminder that the earthquake was not merely a momentary fear, but a devastating disaster that instantly ruined the lives of many families. His friend's account of barely escaping at the last moment from a landslide that fell upon them and buried them along with his seven-year-old little brother reveals the individual tragedies of the earthquake. This sincere and detailed memory of Marcial Fonseca not only commemorates the anniversary of a natural disaster but also opens a small yet bright window into Venezuela's recent history. As the sixtieth anniversary approaches today, passing down such personal testimonies is of great importance for keeping the collective memory alive. The article strikingly demonstrates, with an impressive literary tone, how difficult political periods, historic city celebrations, and the destructive forces of nature intertwine in a single person's life.