{"id":18260,"date":"2026-06-26T20:33:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T20:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18260"},"modified":"2026-06-26T20:33:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T20:33:39","slug":"venezuelans-sleep-in-cars-and-under-trees-as-they-question-where-theyll-live-after-the-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18260","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelans sleep in cars and under trees as they question where they\u2019ll live after the earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JUAN ARR\u00c1EZ and D\u00c1NICA COTO<\/strong><\/p>\n

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) \u2014 The Quintero family crowded around their new home this week after two deadly earthquakes forced them to flee their apartment building in Caracas.<\/p>

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Francisco Quintero reserved the seats of his small, beat-up car for his children, while the trunk is now home to Paquito, their green-and-red parakeet, and a handful of pet turtles.<\/p>\n

Quintero, a musician, said he and other adults in the family search nightly for a place to sleep near the car \u201cuntil we get an answer about what they might do with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes that throttled Venezuela on Wednesday evening just 39 seconds apart toppled buildings in Caracas and beyond, with hundreds of homes damaged. The number of confirmed dead \u2014 already in the hundreds \u2014 is expected to rise as frantic search-and-rescue missions continue.<\/p>\n

Thousands of Venezuelans left suddenly homeless have since poured into parks, plazas and even the shoulders of blocked highways, looking for a place to lay their heads. The latest crisis in this nation of roughly 30 million comes after decades of economic struggle. More than half of the population lives in extreme poverty and nearly 8 million were already in need of humanitarian aid before the quakes struck.<\/p>\n

In Guaira \u2014 the hardest hit state just north of Caracas \u2014 families placed sheets on a dusty baseball field to claim their space, their belongings stuffed into plastic bags. Others sought shelter under palm trees. Among them was 35-year-old Alexandra Mart\u00ednez and her two children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe apartment is completely wrecked,\u201d she said as she wiped away tears. \u201cThe walls, the kitchen, everything, are destroyed. It split right down the middle.\u201d<\/p>

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