A video recorded in the first minutes after the earthquakes that devastated La Guaira on June 24, 2026 went viral on X as one of the most harrowing testimonies of the disaster: it shows a person navigating their home completely destroyed by debris, screaming in despair, until they manage to make it out to the street.
The images, posted by the user Lucy, capture the chaos in real time. The person shows the damage in their home room by room while shouting for help and warning that the structures are threatening to collapse.
"Help me, brother, look at how the house turned out," the video’s creator can be heard saying. "I can't get down. I can't get down, damn it. Help me, help me."
At one point during the journey, the person urgently warns, "This could collapse. This could collapse," as they try to find an exit among the piled debris.
The video also captures the moment when the author confirms what many feared: "More than one person is dead. More than one person was trapped. Lord, why do these things happen, Lord?"
When she finally manages to step outside, the devastation on the streets of La Guaira is complete. The person then reveals that she is injured: "I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding. My head is shattered, everything."
Among the most heart-wrenching moments of the video, the author is heard anxiously asking about his mother and a person named Marvin: "Is my mom there? Is my mom there? Marvin, is your mom there? Your mom is down there."
The video was marked as sensitive content on X, so age verification is required for viewing.
The two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, shook Venezuela just 39 seconds apart, with their epicenter near Morón, Yaracuy state.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) classified them as the most powerful earthquakes recorded in the country since 1900 and issued a Red Alert, estimating a 42% probability that the final death toll could range between 10,000 and 100,000 people.
La Guaira was the hardest hit area: 250 buildings collapsed, the José María Vargas Hospital was destroyed, and the Maiquetía International Airport was closed due to severe damage. NASA estimated that between 59,000 and 63,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed throughout the affected region.
The official death toll rose this Wednesday to 2,295 people, with 11,267 injured and 12,841 affected, according to the Venezuelan government. The UN estimated over 50,000 missing and 6.76 million affected.
The regime's response from Nicolás Maduro also sparked criticism. A volunteer went viral after confronting members of the Bolivarian National Guard with a phrase that encapsulated the public's outrage: "There are more rifles here than shovels", demanding the lack of rescue tools in the face of the military deployment.
Since the major earthquakes, more than 500 aftershocks have been recorded. This Wednesday, one of magnitude 4.6 shook the area again, being the strongest since the original earthquakes, in a region where thousands of families are still searching for their missing loved ones among the rubble.
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