Rescue efforts continue in Venezuela five days after the double earthquake that shook the Caribbean country and caused serious damage, especially in the coastal municipality of La Guaira and in several areas of Caracas. Carlos Alsina has spoken in more than one with José María González, firefighter from the Emergency and Immediate Response Unit of the Community of Madrid (ERICAM), who is deployed in La Guaira participating in the search for survivors.
“This seems like a non-stop,” he said, explaining that the extent of the affected land is enormous. According to him, there are very densely populated areas and others less so, but around 90% of the buildings have suffered damage to a greater or lesser extent, many of them completely destroyed.
The firefighter explained that not all earthquakes have the same consequences, since factors such as construction defects or the absence of preventive measures can multiply the damage, unlike what happens in countries like Japan, where buildings are better prepared to resist this type of phenomena.
However, he recalled that an earthquake of a similar magnitude had not been recorded in this region for more than a hundred years, so a disaster of this nature was completely exceptional.
Optimism in more rescues
Despite the five days that have passed since the earthquake, González has been optimistic about the possibility of finding new survivors. “We have a minimum autonomy of seven days,” he noted. “We know that seven days is a figure within which it is not ruled out to find people alive.”
He specified, however, that the possibilities also depend on the conditions in which the trapped people find themselves. The heat and humidity typical of the area can make survival difficult, unlike what happened in Turkey, where low temperatures allowed people to be rescued alive after several days under the rubble.
The ERICAM member has also highlighted that international teams have managed to rescue several people alive in the last few hours, which maintains hope among the troops deployed.
On a positive note, he wanted to highlight the attitude of the Venezuelan population. “We are received with very open arms,” he stated, explaining that the presence of international teams gives those affected the feeling that they are not alone in the face of the catastrophe.
