Families in anguish hoped for reunions, as search-and-rescue operations continued on Thursday night in Venezuela. Some shared their “missing persons” posts online on new sites.
Juan Diego Cremi and his girlfriend, Sabrina Bolognesi, vanished under the rubble of a building in eastern Caracas during the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck on Wednesday.
Cremi, 23, Bolognesi, 22, and her 20-year-old sister Sofía Bolognesi were on the sixth floor of the Petunia, building that collapsed in Chacao’s Los Palos Grandes’ neighborhood. Rescuers found Sofía alive.
“They managed to get down to the second floor,” Cremi’s sister Marianella Cremi La Riva said in Spanish. “We have a lot of faith in the international rescue teams.”
As an activist, Juan Carlos Viloria, who was born in Caracas and lives in Colombia, knows the suffering of the Venezuelan diaspora all too well. He saw the missing-person flyers on social media.
To help them and others like the Cremi and Bolognesi families find their loved ones, Viloria helped to create and run a site that had 51,893 reports of missing people, including 6,028 who had been found, as of Thursday night.
“It enables survivors, hospitals, churches, and volunteers to look up and verify information about people who haven’t been found,” Viloria said.
The need for activism rises amid an uncertain political transition under acting interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who has been cooperating with President Donald Trump after Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
Rodríguez described La Guaira, a coastal area that is home to the country’s main port, as a “disaster zone” and asked the private sector to step up to help.
Venezuelan officials reported there were at least 188 dead, and about 1,500 injured, but there was uncertainty about the tally.
The U.S. State Department sent two disaster assistance response teams, and the U.S. Southern Command was also responding to support search and rescue efforts.
The Trump administration allocated $100 million for the United Nations and $50 million for the International Medical Corps and the World Food Program. The U.S. Treasury also lifted some sanctions to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.
Ways to help
The list of items needed included first aid kits; emergency gear such as flashlights, heavy-duty batteries, solar phone chargers, and work gloves; and baby care, such as diapers.
- Doral opens 4 aid drop-off locations
- Aid drop-off location opens in Homestead
- World Central Kitchen asks for donations for fresh meals
- Save The Children asks for emergency fund donations
- Red Cross asks for Disaster Response Emergency Fund donations
- UN asks for donations for ‘underfunded’ program for kids
- World Vision asks for ‘disaster relief fund’ donations
Related coverage
- The 2 earthquakes that struck Venezuela are known as a ‘doublet.’ Here’s how they happen
- Venezuelans search rubble for survivors after 2 strong quakes kill at least 188
- After Venezuela earthquakes, here are some of the deadliest in Latin America in the last century
- World leaders react with offers and solidarity after powerful quakes hit Venezuela
- Back-to-back powerful earthquakes hit Venezuela, causing widespread damage
Weddle reported from Bogotá and Torres contributed to this report from Miami.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
