A group of fishermen captured on video the exact moment when the powerful earthquakes of magnitude greater than 7 degrees that shook the country last Wednesday began. The images show the unusual and violent rocking of the boats and the bewildered reaction of the sea workers, who witnessed from the water how the earth began to shake in an unprecedented way during the first seconds of the event. This visual testimony marked the beginning of a tragedy that, according to the latest reports, has already left at least 164 dead and a thousand injured.
Faced with the magnitude of the disaster, non-governmental organizations have started a race against time to assist the affected. The Spanish Emergency Committee —composed of Aldeas Infantiles SOS, Acción contra el Hambre, Educo, Entreculturas, Médicos del Mundo, Plan International, and World Vision— has already activated its action protocols to cover critical needs such as shelter, food, clean water, and healthcare assistance. UNICEF Spain, on the other hand, has unlocked 100,000 euros from its emergency fund to immediately assist children, warning that this disaster exacerbates a previous humanitarian crisis where 4 million children already needed help.
The situation in the cities remains terrifying. Luis Colmenarez, from World Vision, described the chaos experienced in a movie theater in Caracas, where the tremor lasted almost three minutes in total darkness, causing stampedes and cries. Other humanitarian workers have had to take refuge in schools and convents after suffering structural damage in their own homes. While organizations like Save the Children warn of the risk of children being separated from their families amid the chaos, CERMI has made an urgent appeal for assistance to be inclusive of people with disabilities, in a context where hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of citizens continue to spend the night on the streets out of fear of aftershocks.