In the earthquake in Venezuela, there are areas with about 100 buildings collapsed...buildings built without reinforcing bars and cement continue to collapse
Man-made factors resulting from national system gaps...UN says "recovery will take several months"
Venezuelan residents suffering from earthquake fear
[AP=Yonhapnews]
"I was afraid the house would collapse. My mom, my daughter, and I were cold, but we couldn't enter the house after the earthquake. We couldn't get a wink of sleep all night."
The earthquake that struck Venezuela on the afternoon of the 24th (local time) forced residents to spend a sleepless night. A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or higher occurring within 39 seconds. And as approximately 30 aftershocks that followed continued, the sense of fear overwhelmed the suffering of cold and sleeplessness.
Maria Cristina Diaz, a resident of Caracas, said in an interview with AP News on the morning of the 25th that she spent the night in cold and fear, saying "it was a terrible time, and we all cried, but thankfully we were able to survive," as she wiped her chest.
The consecutive strong earthquakes that occurred the day before have already resulted in more than 1,000 casualties. As of now, 164 deaths have been identified by Venezuelan authorities. However, with 971 injured, the death toll is likely to increase further.
Venezuela consecutive earthquakes
[EPA=Yonhapnews]
Venezuela is one of the regions that frequently experiences earthquakes. Large earthquakes typically occur at well-known active plate boundaries where stress has accumulated over decades or centuries, and Venezuela is located at the boundary where the Caribbean Plate and South American Plate meet.
Historically, a major earthquake in Caracas in 1812 killed between 15,000 and 30,000 people, and in 1900, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake collapsed approximately 300 buildings. The 1967 Caracas earthquake killed 236 people, and the 1997 northeastern Cariaco earthquake resulted in 73 deaths.
Although major earthquakes have devastated Venezuelan territory multiple times, the New York Times (NYT) points out that earthquake-resistant facilities and other equipment have often not been properly equipped.
The fact that obsolete infrastructure was neglected as the economic system became paralyzed due to severe economic downturn and Western economic sanctions contributed to increasing the scale of damage from this earthquake.
On the brink of collapse
[EPA=Yonhapnews]
According to UN counts, more than 100 buildings were destroyed in Lara State alone, which is known to have suffered the most damage.
Many of the collapsed buildings were not modern structures with reinforcing bars tightly woven inside concrete, but rather houses built by simply stacking bricks or dried mud blocks.
These houses can withstand downward pressure from above, but are often vulnerable to forces that shake side to side, like earthquakes.
While the two strong earthquakes are natural disasters, the reason why it is pointed out that man-made factors resulting from national system gaps are largely behind so many buildings collapsing so helplessly.
In particular, there are growing concerns that casualties among urban poor living in slopes surrounding the metropolitan basin like a folding screen will continue to emerge.
Collapsed buildings
[AFP=Yonhapnews]
As damage is estimated to grow like a snowball, the UN emphasized that "massive efforts are needed" for Venezuela to normalize after this earthquake and called on the international community for help.
Tom Fletcher, UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, said in a statement that "we are fully prepared and in full operation to help the people of Venezuela," and stated that "over the coming months, large-scale joint efforts will be needed to support the disaster response led by the Venezuelan government and help local communities."
buff27@yna.co.kr
