On the evening of 24 June 2026, Geraldine was at home with her family when their phones sounded an earthquake alert moments before the first powerful tremor struck.
With only seconds to react, the family could not leave their apartment in time.
“We had time to grab a few things, because it was only seconds before we had to move from where we were, and my family couldn’t get out of the apartment. We simply huddled together under a column. The building didn’t collapse, but there are significant cracks inside the apartment, in the structure itself.”
Once the shaking stopped, Geraldine, her family and their pets ran down to the building’s parking area, an open space where they joined their neighbours overnight.
“Some managed to bring down water, some managed to bring down some crackers, some food items, canned tuna, and together we shared everything down there until about two in the morning.”
After briefly returning upstairs for cash and belongings, the family came back down when a strong aftershock struck around three. They stayed in the parking area until about six, before going back up to rest for a couple of hours.
“We were able to go back up again and managed to rest for about two hours… there hasn’t been an aftershock for about two hours now.”
Speaking the next morning, Geraldine described the wider strain on basic services and health care across Venezuela – areas without water, electricity or gas, a strong smell of gas near collapsed buildings, and hospitals in Caracas and La Guaira struggling to keep up with demand for medical staff, supplies and damaged infrastructure.
“La Guaira is the hardest-hit state, and the health centers there cannot keep up. To travel from La Guaira to Caracas, the trip would normally take about thirty to forty-five minutes at most, and right now people are reporting between twelve and thirteen hours to get there.”
Plan International is working with partners on the ground to assess the impact and is preparing to respond to help children and families impacted by the disaster. With decades of experience responding to emergencies worldwide, Plan International puts child protection and girls’ rights at the centre of every response.