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Venezuelan authorities have declared seven days of national mourning. At least 2,295 people were killed and 11,256 people were injured, and so far around 6,400 people have been rescued.
Fourteen camps for displaced people have been set up in La Guaira alone, while hospitals remain under severe pressure and search and rescue operations continue.
Two nights of good sleep
Daniela Jaramillo with her son and his dog, who survived and gave birth at a camp in La Guaira state after the earthquake on June 24.
Daniela Jaramillo arrived in Playa Grande with her husband, her father, her five children – the youngest just ten months old – and the family dog, who was pregnant, after two nights sleeping rough outside the police station.
The earthquake occurred while the family was talking in the hallway of their house. “We grabbed the kids, put them in the middle and held onto each other,” Jaramillo said. “We watched the pieces crumble, the walls. The most important thing was to protect the children.”
When the shaking subsided, they ran towards a sturdier-looking building across the road – but the gas canisters started exploding. They climbed the wall to reach the open ground. “Everything exploded,” his father recalled.
Two nights outdoors followed. “We were very scared,” Jaramillo said. Her home was damaged but not destroyed, something she said apologetically, as she was aware that there were other families who had lost far more.
The Playa Grande baseball stadium is a sports complex that now functions as a temporary shelter and humanitarian aid center.
Corpses under the rubble
“Thank God we didn’t have any casualties,” he said. “It would be selfish to say that housing is the most urgent thing right now. Even though our conditions are stable here, there are still people trapped under the rubble.”
- Save: At least 51 international search and rescue teams from 28 countries – 2,276 specialists and 165 dogs – are still deployed in the worst-hit areas.
- Funding: The UN released $15 million from its emergency fund and activated the Venezuelan Humanitarian Fund. The United States contributed $100 million to the fund and another $100 million to response operations.
- Food: The World Food Program has reached 2,000 people in La Guaira with ready-to-eat food rations and a soup kitchen in Playa Grande.
- Shelter and protection: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) supports the shelter and registration of affected people. UNHCR supports protection, data management and psychosocial support.
- Multisector response: The UN and its partners are concentrating health, food, water, sanitation, protection and psychosocial services at three designated locations – Polideportivo Vargas and the César Nieves and Playa Grande stadiums.
The government has designated Playa Grande as one of three locations where the UN system is providing assistance, along with Polideportivo Vargas and the César Nieves stadium.
World Food Program (WFP) plans to operate a public kitchen for refugee families on Friday. children’s agency, UNICEFis identifying child protection spaces and working on water and sanitation. United Nations migration agency (IOM) help plan temporary shelter.
“Search and rescue teams are still working tirelessly. As of last night they were still finding people who were still alive,” said Vanessa May, head of the UN humanitarian affairs office for Venezuela.
Coordination with authorities is underway on what officials call “transition camps,” he said, which aim to provide health services, food security, nutrition and psychosocial support in one place.
Washed
Conditions in the camp were very bad. Temperatures rose from around 24ºC in the morning to near 29ºC, and recent rain had soaked tents, bedding and belongings. “We had put something up with sheets, but a big bucket of water just came down,” Jaramillo said. “The kids got soaked, our stuff got soaked. Most people lost their stuff again.”
People receive humanitarian aid at the Cesar Nieves Stadium in La Guaira, Venezuela.
Amid the loss, there was one piece of good news: the family dog, rescued from their damaged home by Ms Jaramillo’s father, gave birth to five puppies two days into their stay at the camp. A volunteer veterinarian from Brazil ensured that the mother and kittens were in good health.
As night falls, the family prepares for another night under canvas. Ms Jaramillo said she tries not to think too far ahead. “There are still people missing.”
