Everything, everything collapsed. We're alive, but people are suffering.
On a Wednesday afternoon in Venezuela, as people gathered to watch a World Cup match, the earth delivered two successive blows within a single minute — a 7.2 and a 7.5 magnitude earthquake — the most powerful the country had endured in over a century. The coastal state of La Guaira bore the heaviest grief, its housing towers reduced to rubble, its streets left without water or light, its families calling out into the silence of collapsed concrete. At least 235 lives have been confirmed lost and more than 4,300 injured, though those who survived the shaking understand, with quiet dread, that the full accounting has not yet been made.
- Two earthquakes struck within a single minute, giving residents almost no time to flee between the first tremor and the second, more powerful blow.
- La Guaira's Catia La Mar neighborhood — nearly 200 housing towers — was devastated almost entirely, leaving survivors without electricity, water, or the machinery needed to reach those still buried.
- The quakes' shallow depth of just six miles amplified the destruction at the surface, causing buildings to crumble that might otherwise have survived a single, deeper event.
- Rescue workers and survivors alike warn that the official death toll of 235 will rise, as search operations continue amid ongoing aftershock risks and overwhelmed local resources.
- The United States is deploying specialized search and rescue teams from Virginia and Los Angeles, with Qatar and El Salvador also offering aid, as the international community mobilizes around the human emergency.
Tony Frangie was stepping out to watch a World Cup match when the elevator he was riding dropped him into the basement and the building around him began to sway. He survived, and spent the next hours in the lobby as neighbors made their way downstairs. It was only when he checked his phone that the full scale of what had happened became clear.
Two earthquakes had struck west of Caracas within a single minute — a 7.2 followed by a 7.5 — the strongest Venezuela had experienced in more than a century. The shaking was felt as far away as Colombia and Brazil. Tsunami warnings were issued. By Thursday morning, at least 235 people were confirmed dead and roughly 4,300 injured, with survivors and rescue workers expecting both numbers to climb.
The hardest blow fell on La Guaira, the coastal state north of the capital. In the neighborhood of Catia La Mar, nearly 200 housing towers were devastated almost entirely. Resident Yilsmaris Blanco said she survived only by grace, but around her, families were trapped beneath concrete and steel. There was no electricity. There was no water. People were, as one survivor described it, dying of thirst.
The disaster was compounded by the quakes' timing and depth. Coming within a minute of each other, they left almost no window for evacuation. At only six miles below the surface, the shaking at ground level was far more violent than a deeper event would have produced. Larry Rojas, 49, had family members buried in the rubble and was calling desperately for heavy machinery and trained rescue teams. Jose Pacheco, a rescue coordinator with 30 years of experience, said he had never seen anything like it.
The U.S. State Department responded quickly, deploying search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. Qatar and El Salvador also offered assistance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that whatever the political complexities between Washington and Caracas, the focus now was on the human reality — people trapped, people killed, people severely injured.
Frangie, who was supposed to graduate from his MBA program on Friday, watched the ceremony suspended indefinitely as he scrolled through hundreds of social media posts from people searching for missing family members. Having seen the videos of buildings coming down, he said quietly what many already knew: the worst of the numbers had not yet arrived.
Tony Frangie was leaving his building in Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, heading out to watch a World Cup match with friends, when the ground began to move beneath him. He was in the elevator when the first tremor hit. "I started to pray and to press every button, waiting for it to open up," the journalist told CBS Mornings later. The elevator dropped him into the basement. When he stepped outside, he could see the building swaying around him, but it held. He spent the next several hours waiting in the lobby as neighbors and family members made their way downstairs, unsure at first how serious things had become.
It was only when Frangie checked his phone that he understood the scale of what had just happened. Two earthquakes had struck west of Caracas within a single minute of each other—one measuring 7.2 in magnitude, the second 7.5. They were the strongest quakes to hit Venezuela in more than a century. The shaking was so intense that people felt it across the border in Colombia and Brazil. Tsunami warnings went out. By Thursday morning, officials were reporting at least 235 dead and roughly 4,300 injured, though survivors and rescue workers feared those numbers would climb as the search continued.
La Guaira, a coastal state north of the capital, absorbed the worst of the damage. The neighborhood of Catia La Mar, home to nearly 200 housing towers, was devastated almost entirely. "Everything, everything collapsed," resident Yilsmaris Blanco told the AFP news agency. She was 39 years old and alive, she said, only by the grace of God—but around her, families were trapped beneath concrete and steel, unable to reach relatives who were crushed in the rubble. The area had no electricity. There was no water. People were, as one survivor put it, "dying of thirst."
The timing of the two quakes made the disaster worse. A Northwestern University professor explained that the earthquakes came so close together that people had almost no time to evacuate between the first shock and the second. The quakes were also shallow—only about six miles below the surface—which meant the shaking at ground level was far more violent and destructive than it would have been if the epicenter had been deeper. Buildings that might have survived a single, deeper quake crumbled under the successive waves of force.
Larry Rojas, 49, had family members trapped in one of the collapsed buildings. "We have nothing right now," he told AFP. "We don't even have the strength or the courage to go in there." He was calling for heavy machinery, for specialized rescue teams to come from Caracas to La Guaira. The survivors were afraid to enter even the buildings that were still standing, convinced they would collapse too. Jose Pacheco, who runs rescue operations for the United Rescue Group of Venezuela, said in his 30 years he had never witnessed anything like what he was seeing now. The region needed technical help, he said—trained teams with equipment, not just volunteers with their hands.
The U.S. State Department moved quickly. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles were already being deployed to Venezuela. Qatar and El Salvador had also offered assistance. Rubio told reporters that while earthquakes were not part of the broader political relationship between Washington and Caracas, the Trump administration was focused on "the human aspect." There were people trapped in rubble, he said. There were people who had been killed and severely injured. That was what mattered now.
Frangie, the journalist who had been in the elevator, was supposed to graduate from his MBA program on Friday. That ceremony was suspended indefinitely. Instead, he was scrolling through social media, watching hundreds of posts from people searching for missing family members, watching videos of buildings coming down. He had seen enough to know that the official death toll would not hold. "We've seen videos of buildings collapsing and never-ending amounts of people looking for families," he said. "So, yeah, we expect it to get worse."
Citas Notables
I started to pray and to press every button, waiting for it to open up.— Tony Frangie, journalist trapped in an elevator during the first quake
We expect it to get worse.— Tony Frangie, on the expected rise in the death toll
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the second earthquake make things so much worse than the first alone would have?
The two quakes hit within a minute of each other. People didn't have time to get out of buildings between the first shock and the second. If there had been even five or ten minutes, many more people would have made it to the street. Instead, they were still inside when the second, stronger quake hit.
And the depth of the earthquakes—six miles—that mattered too?
Enormously. A shallow quake sends all its energy straight up through the ground instead of dissipating it over distance. The shaking at the surface was far more violent. Buildings that might have flexed and survived a deeper quake just came apart.
The neighborhood of Catia La Mar had 200 housing towers. Are we talking about a total loss?
Nearly total. When survivors say "everything collapsed," they mean it. Whole blocks reduced to rubble. The people who got out are the ones who happened to be outside or near exits when it hit. Everyone else is either dead or trapped.
What's the immediate problem for rescue workers right now?
They don't have the machinery or the trained teams they need. There's no electricity, no water. Survivors are afraid to enter any building, even ones that look intact, because they're terrified of aftershocks. And the death toll keeps climbing as they pull bodies from the rubble.
Why did the U.S. respond so quickly?
Rubio made it clear—this isn't about politics. There are human beings trapped and dying. The broader relationship between the countries can wait. Right now it's about search and rescue, medical help, getting people out alive.
Do we know how many people are still missing?
Not yet. But the survivors themselves are saying the official numbers will go up. They've seen too much—too many collapsed buildings, too many people still searching for family members. The real toll won't be known for days.