On Wednesday, June 24, at 6:04 p.m., Venezuela changed face in less than a minute: two earthquakes , magnitudes 7.1 and 7.5, separated by just 39 seconds, shook the central-northern part of the country. The epicenter was located near Morón, in the state of Carabobo, but the impact was particularly devastating in La Guaira, Caracas, and surrounding areas, where numerous buildings collapsed. While rescue efforts continue, the death toll, injuries, and missing numbers continue to rise, with the support of international search and rescue teams.
The situation in Caracas after the earthquake in Venezuela
The aftershocks, which have already exceeded one hundred, are keeping the population in constant suspense. We’re getting little sleep. Phone and internet service is intermittent, electricity fluctuates, and, as a precaution, gas has been cut off in many buildings. Getting organized, communicating, or simply going about our daily lives has become a challenge.
The earthquake has left Venezuela particularly vulnerable. Structural limitations and years of wear and tear are compounded by a complex socioeconomic situation that makes dealing with an emergency of this magnitude even more difficult.
However, in the midst of so much fragility, an immense strength also emerges: communion.
The Focolare Movement’s response: unity as a refuge
As the Focolare Movement, we opened our Focolare houses, which had not suffered structural damage, to welcome those who lost or were forced to abandon their homes, offering shelter, food, clothing, and other basic necessities. Our family has also been affected by the grief: a Movement volunteer lost several family members in the collapse of their building, while many others continue to wait for news of their loved ones.
The solidarity of the Venezuelan people was visible from the first hours. Volunteers, parishes, organizations, and communities from various regions mobilized to deliver aid to the most affected areas. At the same time, people from all over the world wrote to us to offer their support, reminding us that brotherhood knows no borders.
A network of international solidarity and closeness
To all of them, we wish to express our profound gratitude for their prayers, their closeness, and their concrete gestures of love. In these days, we are experiencing Chiara’s words with particular force: “Be a family.”
Perhaps the greatest challenge is to live in the present moment, without being paralyzed by fear. Today more than ever, the charism of unity becomes a concrete response: building bridges where pain isolates, building fraternity where fear divides, and sowing hope where uncertainty seems to prevail.
The earthquake emergency in Venezuela is not over, and reconstruction will be long. But amid so much loss, we witness a humanity that shares, organizes, and does not lose hope. Even when the earth shakes, love remains the most solid ground on which to start again.
(Source: www.focolare.org)