Venezuela Earthquake Survivors Recall Chaos: ‘Everything Collapsed’ as Twin Quakes Leave Hundreds Dead
Survivors of the devastating twin earthquakes that hit Venezuela this week are recounting harrowing moments of chaos and fear, describing a landscape where “everything collapsed” and entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble. Among them was journalist Tony Frangie, who was trapped in a Caracas elevator when the first tremor struck.
Speaking to “CBS Mornings,” Frangie called the experience “quite terrifying.” He had been heading out to watch a World Cup match with friends Wednesday when the shaking began. “I started to pray and press every button, waiting for it to open up,” he said. The elevator finally released him in the building’s basement. Once outside, he watched the structure sway — though it remained standing — and spent hours afterward waiting with neighbors and family who descended from upper floors.
Initially, Frangie said he didn’t grasp the scale of the disaster. But when he checked online, he learned that two earthquakes — one measuring 7.2 magnitude and the other 7.5 — had struck west of Caracas. The quakes, the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century, were felt as far away as parts of Colombia and Brazil, and prompted tsunami alerts across the Caribbean.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, confirmed that the northern coastal state of La Guaira bore the brunt of the devastation. At least 164 people were killed and more than 900 injured, Rodríguez said, with officials warning that the toll would likely rise as rescue teams comb through collapsed buildings. A state of emergency has been declared.
Antonio Bermudez, a La Guaira resident, told the AFP news agency that the shaking started “all of a sudden.” He was in his living room and managed to escape his building just before it gave way. “I started to move, I looked for shelter under a column. I was between my room and the shower. It shook harder and harder,” Bermudez said. “I held onto the wall and the building started to come down.”
In Catia La Mar, a neighborhood of nearly 200 housing towers, resident Yilsmaris Blanco described total destruction. “Everything, everything collapsed,” she told AFP, adding, “We thank God because we’re alive, but there are people right now suffering with their relatives buried, with their relatives crushed and they can’t get them out.”
Larry Rojas, 49, said his family was trapped inside a collapsed building. “We have nothing, right now we have nothing, not even the strength or the courage to go in there,” Rojas told AFP, his voice breaking. “Just imagine.” Much of the area remains without electricity, and Rojas said people are “dying of thirst” because water supplies have been cut off. “Really, we need someone to help us, to send machinery. That’s what we need to get into the buildings that have collapsed,” he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is deploying search teams, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid to Venezuela. Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Rubio said he had spoken with Rodríguez and offered full U.S. assistance. “There are human beings that have been harmed, that have been hurt, some have been killed, some have been severely injured, and some are still trapped in rubble,” Rubio said. “We’re going to focus on that.” He noted that Qatar and El Salvador have also offered aid.
The two quakes struck within a minute of each other, according to Northwestern University professor emeritus Emile Okal, meaning many people had no time to evacuate between the first and second rounds of shaking. CBS News meteorologist Rob Marciano noted the quakes were shallow — only about six miles deep — causing “more violent shaking at the surface.”
Jose Pacheco, operations chief of the United Rescue Group of Venezuela, told AFP he had never witnessed such devastation in 30 years of experience. La Guaira needs “help, above all technical help,” he said, calling on specialized teams from Caracas to travel to the region. Photos show buildings with gaping cracks, fallen walls, and entire structures reduced to rubble. Residents are reluctant to enter any building, even those still standing, for fear of aftershocks.
Frangie, the journalist, said he has seen “hundreds of posts and stories and lots of messages of people” searching for help and loved ones. He was supposed to graduate from his MBA program Friday, but that is “definitely suspended.” Instead, he is waiting to see how he can assist survivors. “We’ve seen videos of buildings collapsing and never-ending amount of people looking for families,” he said. “So, yeah, we expect it to get worse.”