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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Disasters & Emergencies

'Ask for help. We are here': First testimonies after magnitude 7.2 earthquake and powerful aftershock in Venezuela

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • A magnitude 7.2 earthquake and a powerful 7.5 magnitude aftershock struck Venezuela, causing significant shaking in Caracas.
  • Residents described the tremors as the strongest they have ever felt, with some reporting collapsed buildings and people trapped.
  • Many people evacuated their homes and waited in the streets, fearing further aftershocks and experiencing power outages and communication disruptions.

The strongest tremor felt in Venezuela in a lifetime shook Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed by a powerful 7.5 magnitude aftershock. Journalist Nicole Kolster described the 7.2 magnitude earthquake as the most intense she had ever experienced in her 37 years.

It's the strongest tremor I've felt in my life.

— Nicole KolsterA journalist and BBC Mundo contributor described her experience during the earthquake in Caracas.

"The building felt like it would collapse on me," Kolster told BBC Mundo, recounting how she took shelter between a doorway and a stone wall. She heard neighbors shouting for people to come down to the street. "Ask for help. We are here," she reported hearing from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building.

Ask for help. We are here.

— Unidentified personHeard from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Caracas.

Images from the capital showed damaged and collapsed buildings. Residents evacuated their homes, with many waiting in the streets for hours, some barefoot and in tears, fearing further aftershocks. "The recommendation is not to go back up to the building," Kolster said. Other residents reported cracked walls, fallen poles, and a loss of electricity and phone signal.

The building felt like it would collapse on me.

— Nicole KolsterDescribing the intensity of the earthquake in her Caracas apartment.

The earthquake's epicenter was near San Felipe in Yaracuy state, about 280 km west of Caracas. The subsequent aftershock was centered near Yumare. The tremors were felt across several Venezuelan states, including Trujillo, Carabobo, Miranda, and La Guaira, according to Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. Many residents, like Anais López in Altamira, were waiting for official confirmation that it was safe to return to their homes.

The recommendation is not to go back up to the building.

— Nicole KolsterRelaying safety advice given to residents after the earthquake.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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