‘I thought I was going to die’ – Venezuelans describe earthquake panic

I thought I was going to die – On Wednesday evening, a series of tremors shook Venezuela, sending residents scrambling for safety. The earthquakes, occurring just seconds apart, registered magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, according to official reports. In Caracas, the capital, the chaos was palpable as buildings crumbled and streets became scenes of emergency. BBC Mundo reporter Nicole Kolster captured the moment from her seventh-floor apartment in Palos Grandes, a central district of the city, as the ground violently convulsed. “The only thing I could think to do was to get between the front door and a stone wall… to try to protect myself,” she recalled. The fear was not unfounded; many believed their homes might collapse, leaving them trapped beneath debris.

The Panic of the Moment

Verónica, a resident of Caracas, described the experience as one of sheer terror. “I thought I was going to die,” she told BBC Mundo, recounting how she and her mother fled their apartment during the quakes. The events unfolded during a national holiday, with families gathered to celebrate when the ground began to rock. The first tremor struck at 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT), followed by a second, more intense one moments later. “The building is completely destroyed, the walls are cracked,” Verónica later reported, confirming that her home had been reduced to rubble. For many, the immediate aftermath meant navigating through heaps of debris, searching for survivors or waiting for news about their loved ones.

A Shattered City

Rescuers worked tirelessly through the night, sifting through the wreckage of collapsed structures in Caracas. The streets were littered with shattered windows and broken furniture, while the distant cries of trapped individuals echoed through the city. In some areas, power and internet outages compounded the confusion, making it difficult to coordinate relief efforts. Authorities warned that the full extent of the damage remained unclear, with over 160 confirmed deaths and hundreds of injuries reported. “We have not even begun to gauge the losses in some of the hardest hit zones,” one official stated, highlighting the ongoing challenge of assessing the toll.

Stories of Survival

For BBC Mundo journalist Valentina Oropeza, the earthquake was more than a natural disaster—it was a personal ordeal. Her sister Verónica had sent a voice message describing the “awful” tremors in real time, her mother’s voice barely audible in the background. Then, silence. Valentina spent hours contacting her family, using every resource available to locate them. “I thought the building was going to fall on top of me,” Verónica later admitted, illustrating the desperation felt by many. In the hours that followed, survivors gathered in the streets, some without shoes or belongings, as they clung to hope. “How do you go back to living like this? This is like something out of a movie,” said a woman from Los Palos Grandes, who remained in shock through the early hours of Thursday.

A Legacy of Disaster

This was not the first time Caracas had faced such devastation. In 1967, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 200 people and left entire neighborhoods in ruins. The 2023 quakes, however, were described as more severe. Coro Martinez, a resident in eastern Caracas, told Reuters that the tremors felt “much longer and more intense” than before. “There was a very loud crash. Things fell in the house, jugs inside the refrigerator,” she said, capturing the raw fear of those who lived through the event. The current disaster has left many questioning whether they will ever recover from the damage.

The Struggle to Rebuild

As the dust settled, the true scale of the disaster became evident. In La Guaira, the most affected state north of Caracas, infrastructure damage disrupted communication, making it hard to relay updates from the ground. Images of flattened buildings and burning vehicles circulated widely, showing the extent of the destruction. Field hospitals overflowed with the injured, while makeshift shelters were set up on sidewalks and in parking lots. The emotional toll was just as significant as the physical one; many residents, now functionally homeless, walked the streets in a daze, unsure of what to do next.

Among those who survived, there were tales of both courage and loss. A handful in Palos Grandes managed to save their pets, clutching animals to their chests as they fled the collapsing buildings. Others, like teacher Alan Chung, faced an anxious wait to learn the fate of their own pets. “I have two cats. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to get back to my apartment to see if they are okay… fingers crossed,” he shared during an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. His uncertainty mirrored the broader sentiment across the country, where families and friends remained separated by the rubble.

The earthquake’s impact extended far beyond the immediate destruction. In Caracas, the city’s central districts saw widespread panic, with people abandoning their homes for fear of aftershocks. The streets, once bustling with life, now served as temporary camps for those who could not return. Nicole Kolster, who had just moments to shelter in her apartment, described hearing voices from the rubble, a sound that underscored the urgency of the situation. “People were hugging and crying,” she said, capturing the emotional chaos of the moment.

Authorities have emphasized that the death toll and injuries are likely to rise as rescue operations continue. The quakes have left communities in disarray, with many still uncertain about their future. “I never thought we would experience something like this,” said Valentina’s mother, her voice trembling as she recounted the events. The same sentiment echoed from Coro Martinez, who described the experience as “unbelievable.” For Venezuelans, the earthquakes have not only tested their resilience but also exposed the fragility of their infrastructure and the ongoing challenges of daily life in a country already grappling with crisis.

As the days pass, the focus remains on recovery efforts and the search for missing persons. The destruction of homes and buildings has forced thousands to seek shelter in unfamiliar places, raising concerns about long-term displacement. In the meantime, the nation holds its breath, awaiting the final count of losses and the beginning of a long road to rebuilding. The memory of the tremors, however, will linger, a reminder of the power of nature and the human spirit in the face of disaster.