As Venezuelans mourn lives lost in deadly earthquakes, South Florida experts are calling out structural issues
Survivors of last week's twin earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, are mourning the loss of thousands of lives and thousands more missing as concerns grow regarding the structural integrity of the region's public housing.
Nearly 2,000 people are confirmed dead, with tens of thousands still missing following the tremors. For residents like Kristine Villarroel, the disaster has been deeply personal; she lost her father, stepmother and 6-year-old stepbrother when their apartment building collapsed.
"It used to be 10 floors, and it collapsed completely, and right now the rubble is maybe like two stories tall," Villarroel said.
The tragedy marks another chapter of disaster for the coastal city, which was devastated in 1999 when massive landslides buried the town, resulting in up to 30,000 deaths. For many in La Guaira, the current devastation brings back traumatic memories of the previous catastrophe.
"I have so many family members that have stories of their loved ones being half-buried in mud, and now the same people are being buried in rubble from buildings that are collapsing," Villarroel said.
Critics have long alleged that the public housing erected following the 1999 landslides was built rapidly on risky terrain without proper oversight during the administration of former President Hugo Chavez.
Andres Tremante, a mechanical engineer at Florida International University who visited the region shortly after the 1999 mudslides, noted that the current scale of destruction appears significantly more severe.
"This tragedy is at least 10 times worse than the one that I saw personally 27 years ago," Tremante said. "My concern is understanding what is happening now with this type of housing. If they did the right job, if they followed the engineering rules, we shouldn't have seen what we have seen now."
Engineers in Venezuela are now calling on authorities to conduct immediate structural inspections of all public housing complexes in the area.
"My hope is that we finally learn what is going on here, and we apply the corrections, and we come up with a better plan, and we execute that plan," Tremante said.