Earthquakes swallow homes in Venezuela's 'Ciudad Chávez'

On the evening of June 24, Nancy Rengifo was watching a World Cup match when two powerful earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck Venezuela. The tremors, lasting nearly two minutes, devastated the Hugo Chávez housing complex in La Guaira state. This complex, a flagship project of the "Misión Vivienda" social program, was inaugurated in 2013 and named after the late Hugo Chávez.

Unlike typical collapses, the earthquakes caused many of the four-story buildings to sink, their lower floors crushed and disappearing. Rengifo, who lived on the ground floor, described it as if "the earth swallowed them." Some buildings were reduced by two stories. Community spokespeople reported around 3,000 families affected, with over 150 buildings damaged, sunk, or tilted. Even structures appearing intact from the outside suffered internal damage.

Rengifo, 76, and two relatives were trapped in the wreckage of her apartment building. Rescuers, including family members, managed to reach them through a window. She recalled her fear, thinking, "How do we get out if we are barred?" The building, like others in Ciudad Chávez, was prefabricated, with a metal structure. Authorities were seen removing two bodies from the site during a recent visit.