Urgency Intensifies: International Aid Mobilizes for Venezuela Quake Survivors

Grandparents, young children, and siblings form the core of Venezuela’s earthquake-affected communities.

Families across Venezuela are leveraging social media platforms to locate missing relatives following Wednesday’s catastrophic earthquakes, which have caused widespread destruction.

While some individuals have received confirmation that injured loved ones are alive but stranded, others have learned of fatalities, and numerous cases remain unresolved.

Okarina Castaño, employed at a Miami-based bank, received a critical call from her brother Carlos early Thursday.

Residing in Los Corales near Caracas’ airport, this coastal area suffered significant damage during the seismic events.

“I’m alive, we’re alive. We emerged from the wreckage,” Carlos reportedly told Okarina. However, he expressed concern about his mother-in-law’s safety.

Trapped beneath debris overnight, Carlos remains unaware of his wife Eliana Palacios and their 12-year-old daughter Danna’s condition.

Ms. Castaño emphasized her brother’s determination to locate them at local hospitals.

This family’s resilience is tested by past trauma from a 1999 landslide that devastated the same region, resulting in thousands of fatalities.

“My brother is in severe shock,” Ms. Castaño shared. “He reports experiencing significant pain.”

Brigeanner Soto, a Venezuelan resident near Dallas, has been urgently seeking updates on her 18-year-old sister Gabriela Orfao.

Gabriela and her siblings lived in the 14-story Punta Brisas building in Macuto, 12 miles east of Caracas’ airport.

According to Ms. Soto, neighbors managed to rescue one sibling, Camila, who is undergoing hip surgery after being rescued by heavy machinery.

“Gabriela was buried too deep,” Ms. Soto explained. “Rescuers require heavy equipment due to extensive rubble, despite many survivors needing extraction.”

Without organized rescue operations, survivors are actively searching through wreckage to find trapped individuals.

“We’ve been trying to contact them for help,” Ms. Soto stated. “We haven’t slept since the earthquake began, and our desperation is palpable.”

Angie Reyes, speaking via telephone from Venezuela, is desperately searching for her colleague Daniel Vivas, 43.

Mr. Vivas resided on the sixth floor of a La Guaira building near Caracas, which suffered substantial damage. Ms. Reyes fears rescue efforts may be too slow.

“We’re paralyzed waiting for international assistance,” she expressed.

In Caracas, Vladimir Navas searched outside a collapsed six-story building in El Paraíso, seeking his in-laws Freddy Carrero (86) and Eliana Hernández (82).

“They likely watched the World Cup when the quake struck,” Mr. Navas said. “Finding them alive seems improbable.”

Fire Department Colonel Henry Ascanio reported at least seven missing residents and discovered several dead pets near the site.

“Without auditory clues, their survival is miraculous,” Navas concluded about his in-laws.

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