LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Las Vegas locals share their accounts of the aftermath of the Venezuela earthquake as the death toll soars and relief efforts pour in from across the globe.
Jason Wang had barely been in Caracas for 24 hours when he found himself in the middle of a 7-magnitude quake.
“I was actually next in line to get into the cable car, so I was recording with my phone about to get inside. Then all of a sudden, the building, the floors just started shaking and then we all kind of panicked and ran for the exit. Then it lasted for about a minute,” Wang tells FOX5. Cell phone video shows people running out into the open for safety.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada earthquake activity explained amid Venezuela quakes
Wang walked through six miles of destruction to get back to his hotel.
“A lot of the roads that were heading down, they didn’t exist anymore. They just got completely destroyed. There were landslides that covered a lot of parts of the road and a lot of fallen trees that kind of built this huge wall barrier across many different parts of the road. So little by little, we had to figure out a way to get past these obstacles,” Wang said, using Starlink to speak to FOX5.
Bryce Henderson and his wife bought a condo just outside of Caracas for his wife’s family to use on the weekends; the earthquake damaged it and made it unlivable.
With nonexistent or spotty cell service and impassable roads, relatives had to wait hours or walk miles to find loved ones.
[My wife] was trying to track down all of her family, and it reminded me of 9-11 when people were looking for their family members in New York City. We started seeing all the video of the buildings that had collapsed. I never once thought about our condo that we had purchased there-that wasn’t really even a thought of mine. But then my wife told me that that area was actually the hardest hit area,” Henderson said. She was eventually able to locate her uncle, though he had to go to the hospital after he was struck by falling debris.
Henderson hopes Americans stay aware of the situation abroad and pitch in to help; restoration of the country will take years.
“I feel for all the people in Venezuela who have already been going through a lot with their economy. The average person there makes $250 a month, yet their food costs the same as ours,” he said.
The Red Cross and UNICEF USA are among international non-profits assisting with rescue and resource efforts, accepting donations where possible.
Radio Latina in Las Vegas is working with local restaurants like Viva Las Arepas and Rika Arepa to assist in drives for items such as medicine, baby formula, bottled water, hygiene products and more.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
