‘Devastating’: Venezuelans in Edmonton confirm safety of family members in aftermath of fatal earthquakes

After two deadly earthquakes hit Venezuela, Edmontonians are trying to see if family and friends in the country are safe.

Venezuelans in Edmonton are closely watching news coming out of the country, which is reporting at least 188 people dead following two high-magnitude earthquakes this week.

The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly says the 7.2-and-7.5-magnitude earthquakes, which hit cities across the country on Wednesday, have left more than 200 trapped by rubble on top of those who have already been confirmed dead.

At least 1,500 people are injured. Thousands are reported missing.

The Association of Venezuelans in Edmonton is still trying to determine if anyone living in the city, or other larger Venezuelan population centres like Fort McMurray or Calgary, was directly affected. So far, all reported family and friends connected to Venezuelans in Edmonton have been confirmed safe.

• President of Venezuela’s National Assembly says earthquakes have killed at least 188 people and trapped more than 200

The local association’s president, Samuel Romero, says emails, texts and videos began rolling in as he was watching the Brazil-Scotland FIFA World Cup game.

“We saw it as something that we would be monitoring on an hourly basis, come to find out it was a total disaster,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

“Through the hours and up to when we went to bed, my wife and I were exchanging emails with families and relatives, asking about their current situation. When we woke up in the morning, what I saw was devastating.”

Romero says for a country that has been struggling politically for decades, the new wave of devastation means international associations need to “work together as a team” to help Venezuela.

He pointed out high rates of immigrants who fled Venezuela in past years during then-president Nicolas Maduro’s regime who have had trouble contacting family members still living there, primarily because cell service went down in the initial quakes and now because of social media restrictions and general chaos.

The U.S. geological survey says the quakes hit within a minute of one another. They are the strongest to strike the country in more than a century.

Romero, who used to work in the oil industry, says he had planned to travel to his home country in the next few months to visit family and watch Venezuela’s slow recovery after years of oil-related economic troubles.

“It’s going to take years … I wanted to go and see the sort of value I could do, and I was very excited,” he said.

Now, his plans remain murky as he joins other North American associations in looking to support schools, businesses, an airport and other institutions reduced to rubble by the natural disaster.

“Maybe the next step is to continue sending resources, medications that I know there will be a scarcity of, maybe books … The journey this afternoon, tomorrow morning, will continue.”

Canadian Global Response is set up to take donations online for earthquake relief.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg