In Catia La Mar, a coastal city in Venezuela, Yilsmaris Blanco looked on in shock as scenes of destruction unfolded early Thursday after powerful twin earthquakes demolished numerous buildings.
“It was horrific. Everything, every structure, came crashing down,” said the 39-year-old woman to AFP.
“Thank God… we’re alive, but right now, many people are suffering because their loved ones are buried beneath the rubble—crushed and trapped, and they can’t get them out.”
Two sizable earthquakes, registering magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck areas west of Caracas on Wednesday evening, resulting in at least 164 fatalities and nearly 1,000 injuries, according to interim leader Delcy Rodriguez.
The current count of missing persons has not yet been released, as reports from across the nation indicate many individuals are trapped under collapsed structures.
The hardest-hit region is La Guaira’s northern coast, which faces the Caribbean Sea. The government’s initial statistics do not include data from La Guaira—declared a “disaster zone”—which is also home to the capital’s international airport.
Larry Rojas, 49, standing near a collapsed building where his family is trapped, expressed despair: “We have nothing right now. We’re barely holding ourselves together. Just imagine.”
Rojas was among thousands affected in a neighborhood in Catia La Mar that contains nearly 200 residential towers. Many buildings bore large cracks or had crumbled walls, while dozens more were reduced to debris, as AFP reporters observed.
Much of the area was without power, and residents spent the night outdoors, fearful of additional aftershocks.
Lisbeth Vasquez, a local who managed to escape with her family from a fallen building, said, “There are survivors down there.”
In the darkness, rescue teams worked tirelessly amid the debris, with officials closely monitoring as residents called out the names of loved ones missing. Witnesses saw the bodies of a man and woman placed in the back of a pickup truck.
A well-known pharmacy in Catia La Mar was left with shattered glass and empty shelves; authorities haven’t confirmed if looting occurred.
“Ironically, we need help—especially technical assistance,” said Jose Pacheco, commander of the United Rescue Group of Venezuela.
“The skilled teams in Caracas who know what tools to use should come help here in La Guaira,” he urged.
With a voice choked with emotion, Pacheco, who has three decades of experience, remarked, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He pointed out around 14 damaged structures nearby, including one that was entirely collapsed.
Antonio Bermudez, a resident of La Guaira, was in his living room when the shaking suddenly started.
“I was thrown off balance, and I looked for cover under a column. I was between my room and the shower. Then the tremors intensified,” Bermudez recalled.
“I held onto the wall, and the building started to fall apart,” he said, sitting against a street wall, trying to adjust his leg after a slab fell on it.
Some residents wandered the streets with flashlights, while emergency vehicles briefly illuminated the decimated roads.
“We don’t have water—we’re dying of thirst. We’re afraid to go back inside structures—they might collapse,” Rojas added.
“All we really need is assistance—machinery to get into the collapsed buildings, that’s what’s crucial,” he emphasized.