Venezuela's Quake Rescues: "It's all Improvisation"

"There is no planning, it's all improvisation."

"This is a state that is lacking in security services to deal with this type of emergency."

"Our firefighters and first responders don't have the proper equipment." 

Vicente Villarroel, a former federal lawmaker from the city of La Guaira 

 

"With everything that has happened to Venezuela in the past few years, we thought that nothing worse could happen."

"But what has happened is a real catastrophe, a tragedy."

Javier, Barquisimeto 

 

"What motivates me to become part of this movement is the empathy I feel for all Venezuelans who have lost their homes, their families, their will to live because they have been left with nothing."

"I think, as Venezuelans, more than ever, we are united for different reasons."

"Many of us have families in the impacted zones, others do it from a desire to help, but in the end it's all the same objective."

Raquel Mercedes Contreras Manrique, president, student centre, University of Los Andes, San Cristobal  

Raquel Mercedes Contreras Manrique, president of the student centre at the University of Los Andes in San Cristobal, packs donated supplies on Friday. (Submitted by Raquel Mercedes Contreras Manrique)

 

 A day ago, shortly after Venezuela was hit with two, back-to-back earthquakes President Delcy Rodriguez announced that at least 164 deaths and 971 injured had resulted at that point of reckoning. The U.S. Geological Survey which had pegged the temblors at 7.2-magnitude and 7.5 magnitude following, warned that "high casualties and damage are probable". The death count from the earthquakes has risen a day later, to 1,400 -- and counting. Two aftershocks were recorded; one of 4.5- and the other 4.4-magnitude, close to Caracas, the country's capital.

 

On the Richter scale, a 7.5-magnitude quake is almost twice as powerful as one at 7.2 magnitude. When they struck, one after the other, it took altogether 30 seconds that the ground wobbled after 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Glass from nearby windows fell to shatter on streets below. Los Palos Grandes, a seismic area of eastern Caracas was hit directly. Three buildings on one block, one of 13-storeys in height, collapsed. A state of emergency was declared. 

 

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote: "I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly. We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good." Emergency rescue teams have arrived from Venezuela's regional neighbours, El Salvador, Ecuador, Brazil and Chile, and other seasoned teams, including one from Israel and the much-storied and well-experienced White Helmets from Syria were also dispatched to do what they know best; rescuing those still alive in hazardous life conditions. 

 

Venezuelans have rallied to support their fellow citizens, some travelling hundreds of kilometres to join relief efforts. (Susy Peña/CBC)

 

The boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates is where the sequence occurred when two giant sections of the Earth's crust slid sideways past each other along a fault. That action released the massive energy that caused the quakes. A figure of 4,300 injured people was released, but is certain to rise as rescue operations continue. The number of those missing is also growing, while first responders and volunteers desperately search for survivors. Over 200 people are still trapped in the rubble with Venezuelans in a "race against time" to rescue them, amidst ongoing aftershocks.

 

The number of buildings that collapsed: 250 in all. Dozens of apartment buildings in La Guaira were shaken to the  ground. In many areas of the state heavy machinery is scarce; volunteers were forced to make use of whatever tools they could locate in hopes of carving through the collapsed concrete rubble. It was almost a full day that passed before government responders arrived to help dig through debris.

 

The main health facility, Jose Maria Vargas Hospital, saw injured people lying on thin mattresses outside on the ground of the hospital premises. Its emergency department was swamped with people presenting with all manner of injuries. Some of the patients held their IV drips aloft on their own. Across the country Venezuelans crowdsourced websites and social media in search of missing family members. Over 42,000 names with photos and descriptions were listed on one website alone. 

 

While first responders and volunteers worked amidst the collapsed buildings interspersed with rubble, family members waited in high suspense, for outcomes. The Altamira neighborhood of Caracas was one such venue. A rescue team searched the rubble, unable to use the equipment at hand because the electric generator wasn't responding. For that team even basic tools like hammers were not available. The government, in economic crisis, lacks the capacity to respond to such disasters.

 

A building rocked by two earthquakes is seen Friday in the beachfront neighbourhood Playa Grande in Catia la Mar, a city in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira. (Susy Peña/CBC)