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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Disasters & Emergencies

Over 50 Buildings in Aragua Rated High-Risk After Inspections

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • At least 54 buildings in Venezuela's Aragua state received a red classification, indicating a high risk of collapse, according to the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis).
  • Engineers are inspecting these high-risk buildings daily due to the imminent danger of collapse.
  • The region is still assessing earthquake damage, with 235 buildings marked yellow and 845 green, highlighting a significant structural concern following recent seismic activity.

More than 50 buildings in Venezuela's Aragua state are at high risk of collapse, having received a red classification from the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis). Giampiero Mora, acting president of the Engineers' Center of Aragua, stated that these 54 structures are under daily inspection by experts due to the severe risk.

At least 54 buildings in the state of Aragua have the red classification on the evaluation traffic light scale promoted by the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis).

— Giampiero MoraPresident of the Engineers' Center of Aragua, explaining the structural risk assessment.

In addition to the red-flagged buildings, 235 structures in Aragua were classified as yellow, and 845 received a green rating. Mora noted that the institution has established a situational room with volunteers to receive reports from citizens.

We immediately planned, we set up our own situational room with volunteers, and that's where people have been reporting to us.

— Giampiero MoraDescribing the citizen reporting system for building damage.

Following recent earthquakes, the Engineers' Center has collaborated with Civil Protection and regional authorities to form a technical committee. Their aim is to unify efforts and certify the safety of various buildings for residents. Mora previously emphasized that the magnitude of recent earthquakes, which caused damage across several states, makes it difficult to set a timeline for infrastructure repairs in Aragua, particularly in the most affected municipality of Girardot.

There are many incidents and we do not have the necessary human resources, however, we have been supporting and studying the most critical cases.

— Giampiero MoraAddressing the challenges in assessing and repairing damaged infrastructure.

Mora also expressed that Venezuela was unprepared for a natural phenomenon of such magnitude. "One must be prepared before, during, and after an earthquake, and the results show we were not ready," he said, underscoring a critical lack of preparedness for seismic events.

The country was not prepared for a natural phenomenon of such magnitude. For an earthquake, one must be prepared before, during, and after, and the results show that we were not prepared.

— Giampiero MoraReflecting on Venezuela's preparedness for seismic events.
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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