On 24 June, two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela within seconds, with the second quake registering a magnitude of 7.5, one of the strongest in a century. Fabiana, a 12-year-old girl, was trapped inside the rubble of her family's 10-storey residential building in Caraballeda, northern La Guaira state.

Fabiana was in her mother's bedroom on the first floor when the earthquakes hit. Her mother, Karina Blanco, was teaching a spinning class when the tremors began. She ran outside and, realizing the severity, screamed for her daughter and rushed to their building, only to find it had collapsed.

Fabiana described the terrifying moments, saying, "She told me to stay calm and that everything would be alright." Despite the chaos, she managed to survive by eating ketchup and cheese while trapped. Six hours after the earthquake, rescue efforts began, and after 32 hours, at around 02:00 local time on Friday, rescuers dug a tunnel wide enough to pull Fabiana out safely.

Karina recalled the devastation, saying, "I could see one building, then a gap where my building stood, and then another building." She also described her panic, "I was running from one end of the complex to the other screaming 'She's dead. My daughter is dead'. I didn't know what to do."

Fabiana's ordeal highlights both the destructive power of the earthquakes and the resilience of those affected.

Sources