{"id":7100,"date":"2026-07-15T21:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=7100"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:45:18","slug":"earthquake-disaster-in-venezuela-a-lot-worse-than-expected-catholic-relief-worker-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/earthquake-disaster-in-venezuela-a-lot-worse-than-expected-catholic-relief-worker-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthquake Disaster in Venezuela \u2018a Lot Worse Than Expected,\u2019 Catholic Relief Worker Says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Gina Christian, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osvnews.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OSV News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(OSV News) \u2014 Damage from two back-to-back earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 is \u201ca lot worse than expected,\u201d said a Catholic Relief Services disaster response worker, who asked people to \u201ckeep Venezuelans in their hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robyn Fieser, who arrived in the Latin American nation on July 9 and is coordinating CRS emergency communications on the ground, found \u201cthere were literally blocks of buildings that were just pancaked onto themselves. There was massive destruction for blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to OSV News from Venezuela in a July 13 call, Fieser said, \u201cIt looked a little bit like a war zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least 4,500 were killed during the 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which took place just 39 seconds apart. Thousands remain missing, with many survivors struggling to excavate the bodies of loved ones amid the rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI talked to one man who said he felt the earthquakes, immediately ran home, put his shoes on and went out to start helping,\u201d Fieser said. \u201cHe was one of those just trying to help people get out anyway they could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Electrical, water and sanitation infrastructure has been severely degraded by the quakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Catholic leaders and organizations quickly mobilized to provide aid, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryknollmagazine.org\/2025\/07\/against-the-odds-crs-has-delivered-aid-to-1-7-million-in-gaza-since-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CRS<\/a> \u2014 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops\u2019 official overseas humanitarian and development agency \u2014 \u201cworking extremely closely\u201d with its in-country partner Caritas Venezuela, CRS spokesperson Brittany Wichtendahl told OSV News on July 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both organizations are part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caritas.org\/what-we-do\/current-crisis\/crisis-in-venezuela\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Caritas Internationalis<\/a>, the universal Catholic Church\u2019s global humanitarian network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Catholic organizations provide on-the-ground assistance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CRS and Caritas Venezuela have together distributed hundreds of emergency food and hygiene kits, along with tarpaulins for shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPeople have lost their homes,\u201d said Fieser. \u201cI met three nurses who are staying in tents in a little plaza right by their church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CRS and Caritas Venezuela are working to provide Venezuelans with the basic necessities for daily life as they work to rebuild, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey need food, they need water,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crs.org\/about-us\/experts\/robyn-fieser\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fieser<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re providing hygiene kits so people can wash and brush their teeth, and we\u2019re taking care of diapers for their children. We\u2019re providing blankets, food \u2014 they need everything, because they\u2019re not home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The disaster compounds ongoing, multiyear crises in the Latin American nation. In a situation update posted to its website, CRS noted that prior to the two earthquakes, \u201can estimated 7.9 million <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryknollmagazine.org\/2026\/01\/faith-in-venezuela-a-maryknoll-reflection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">people were already in need<\/a> of assistance due to years of economic crisis, food insecurity and weakened public services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Current leader Delcy Rodr\u00edguez \u2014 who ascended to power following the U.S.\u2019s January capture and indictment of then-President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryknollmagazine.org\/2026\/01\/us-intervention-in-venezuela-draws-mixed-reactions-raises-concerns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife<\/a>, Cilia Flores \u2014 has faced growing ire from many Venezuelans, who have pointed to her government\u2019s slow response to the quakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fieser said that the damage is far more than physical. \u201cEvery single person that I\u2019ve spoken to is traumatized \u2014 every single person,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One woman with whom Fieser spoke emerged from her apartment after the quakes to see \u201cpeople covered in dust, people lying on the ground\u201d as an alarm sounded on her phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, \u201cany type of loud noise that even resembles an alarm scares her,\u201d Fieser said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trauma prevails among the survivors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who still have access to their homes remain wary, especially since \u201cthere have been a lot of aftershocks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve talked to people who say they can\u2019t close the doors when they\u2019re showering because they\u2019re too afraid to be caught in a room,\u201d Fieser said, adding that some \u201care sleeping next to the front door of their houses because they don\u2019t want to be caught.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still others \u201care just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maryknollmagazine.org\/2021\/03\/pope-welcomes-fidesco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crying nonstop<\/a>,\u201d she said. \u201cThe trauma aspect of this is extremely powerful. And I think that emotional support is as important, in some ways, as other life-saving things like food and water. People are seriously traumatized by this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fieser admitted that, with bodies still under the rubble, \u201cyou can smell\u201d the decomposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet despite the horrific consequences of the quakes, she said, \u201cwhat\u2019s so impressive is that even though people are traumatized \u2014 and they\u2019re living, obviously, next to buildings where there are bodies, and many people still don\u2019t know where their loved ones are \u2014 there\u2019s a spirit of coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She pointed to the three nurses who are living in a tent, \u201cbut went right back to work the next day at the hospital to tend to the injured and the grieving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI feel like people are really getting some kind of relief by uniting and helping and being together during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/en\/world\/news\/2026-07\/venezuela-earthquakes-24-june-death-toll-rescue-efforts-damage.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this really tragic moment<\/a>,\u201d Fieser said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, she said, \u201cit\u2019s a long road\u201d to recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t happen in a day, and the need remains very tremendous,\u201d she said, asking people to \u201ckeep the Venezuelans in their hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Featured image: People receive humanitarian aid in Tanaguarena, Venezuela, July 14, 2026, following the aftermath of the June 24 earthquakes. The demand for help comes as the United Nations launched an appeal for roughly $300 million to assist 1.3 million people in urgent need of aid in the South American country where nongovernmental organizations until recently were targets of government repression. (OSV News\/Gaby Oraa, Reuters)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the wake of the earthquakes in Venezuela, Catholic organizations assist survivors who experience trauma and uncertainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":7102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1053],"tags":[3127,3126,3129,3036,3131,1061,1514,3128,3130,1154,1054,589],"class_list":["post-7100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-caritas-internationalis","tag-caritas-venezuela","tag-crs","tag-earthquakes-in-venezuela","tag-emotional-support","tag-gina-christian","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-robyn-fieser","tag-tragedy","tag-trauma","tag-u-s-conference-of-catholic-bishops","tag-venezuela"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - 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