Sacramento Woman's Family Trapped: Venezuela's Double Earthquake Disaster Deepens

When the ground beneath Venezuela stopped shaking, the real crisis had just begun. Two powerful earthquakes have left over 21,000 people missing and a nation already crippled by economic collapse now facing an even steeper climb toward recovery. For those watching from afar—like Sacramento resident Kareen Santiago—the helplessness is almost as devastating as the tremors themselves.

Santiago fled Venezuela a decade ago, but her family never made it out. When the earthquakes hit, she spent the night glued to social media, refreshing feeds and praying for messages.“I couldn’t sleep last night,”she told KCRA 3. The ground literally shook beneath her loved ones, and all she could do was watch and wait. That’s the particular torture of being a diaspora—you’re safe, but everyone you left behind is not.

What makes this disaster uniquely catastrophic is timing. Venezuela was already gasping for air. Basic services like electricity, water, and hospital supplies have been failing for years under economic collapse. Now, with tens of thousands missing and rescue operations in full swing, hospitals have almost nothing.“Now it’s worse because we don’t have enough medicines or supplies for hospitals, water, the supplies that people need when they have an emergency,”Santiago said. A disaster of this scale anywhere is tragic. In Venezuela right now, it may be insurmountable without massive international help.

A website called“Venezuela Te Busca”(Venezuela Is Looking for You) has become a digital lifeline. Families are posting photos and names of missing loved ones, desperately scrolling through thousands of entries hoping to see a familiar face marked as found. So far, over 3,100 have been located. But with more than 21,000 still unaccounted for, the math is grim.

Santiago’s words carry the weight of watching your country crumble from a distance:“We hope that our country one day has a better situation, freedom.”It’s a statement wrapped in hope but hollowed out by years of disappointment. The U.S. Geological Survey warns the death toll will likely climb as rescue crews push deeper into the rubble. For Venezuelans abroad, each update brings fresh dread. For those still there, it brings the crushing reality that recovery may take longer than survival itself.