Forty seconds were enough to level entire cities in , with the photographic lens now the irrefutable witness of a biblical catastrophe.
As ‘before and after’ satellite images capture the extent of the devastation
Where high-rise buildings and historical monuments stood until Wednesday, today there is only rubble and ghost buildings ready to collapse.
New satellite images released by the Vantor company reveal extensive damage in the Venezuelan coastal city of La Guaira.
The CBC also proceeded to compile images, from X, showing the utter devastation.
Eduard’s Hotel in La Guaira, Venezuela. The photo on the left, from Google maps, shows the building as it was before and the one on the right was taken after the earthquake and cross-referenced by CBC. (@anonymous_hat2/X, Google Maps)
The “Residencias Rita Sol Palace” residential complex, an apartment building in Carabajeda, Venezuela. The photo on the left, from Google Maps, shows the building as it was before and the one on the right was taken after the earthquake and cross-referenced by CBC. (@Bárbara A. De Jesús/X, Google Maps)
Collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela. The image on the left shows the building as it was before the earthquakes. (Google Maps, Maxwell Briceno/Reuters)
Church damaged by the earthquakes in Valencia, Venezuela. In the image on the right you can see cracks in the building. (Google Maps, Jacinto Oliveros/Getty Images)
The building of the Court of Auditors of the State of La Guaira in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, which has been severely damaged. On the left is what the building looked like in a social media post from July 2024. The photo on the right was taken on Thursday. (@laguaira.contraloria/Instagram, Maxwell Briceno/Reuters)
The “golden” window of 72 hours
Rescuers in Venezuela are racing against time to pull survivors from the rubble of the earthquake before the 72-hour “golden window” to find people buried alive closes. After this period the chances of survival decrease rapidly.
Many residents in the affected areas of Venezuela are spending their second night in a row on the streets. Those affected have nowhere to go as their homes have been leveled in La Guaira, Caracas and surrounding areas, while many others remain trapped under the rubble.
“Power vacuum”
Venezuelans are not only facing the material destruction of their country, but also a deepening lack of government coordination in the wake of the twin earthquake crisis, a reporter based in Caracas told CNN on Friday.
“I feel that the second day is even more difficult than the first because we are now starting to realize the true extent of the damage, we suspect that the number of victims is much higher,” said Tony Franzi Mawad.
Mawad described a “power vacuum” in Venezuela, stressing that “the state does not have the slightest ability to act.” The military has not been widely deployed, or at least not in a visible way,” he added, explaining that the burden of rescue and relief has fallen on the shoulders of social organizations, schools, local churches and families themselves.
“This just shows the extent of the mismanagement that Venezuela has been experiencing for the past two decades. This is a country that suffered the largest peacetime economic contraction in modern history… And now we are seeing the consequences. The state has no capacity to react. There are no resources, there are not enough machines, there are not enough tools and the most necessary means for the people who remain trapped in the collapsed buildings.”
Mawad also said that social media has been flooded with posts from people searching for their missing relatives and pleading for help in areas where rescue teams have not yet been able to reach.
“It’s not just the human toll that’s horrendous. It is not only the vulnerable state of the country as a whole. It is that you see even the landscape of the city completely changed and destroyed. And this deeply hurts our collective memory and our identity as Venezuelans.”
The healthcare system is collapsing
Dr. Franklin Rodríguez traveled to the earthquake-hit region of La Guaira from the capital Caracas, where he normally works.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he describes the desperate situation he and his colleagues in the medical profession face. The doctor speaks of a system in complete collapse, with the state’s two main hospitals “totally overcrowded”.
“There is a dramatic shortage of medicines and medical supplies. The health structures do not have the capacity and the ability to manage this huge volume of people, while many citizens are still trapped under the debris,” he said.
AP photo/Pedro Mattey
