Twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela last night, killing nearly 200 people and injuring at least 15,000 more. At least 164 people have been reported dead, and rescue efforts are underway. Our guest today is Anda Padilla, a doctor there herself.
00:00:25.480This report here says at least 164 have died as rescue efforts underway.
00:00:34.180But the reports I'm getting from people on the streets is there's 55, nearly 60,000 people missing and no one really knows what's going on.
00:00:43.820So when you look at the story here, twin earthquakes, back to back, rocked Venezuela last night, killing nearly 200 and injuring at least 1520.
00:00:54.400Venezuela National Assembly President George Rodriguez said this afternoon those tolls are set to rise again.
00:01:00.360The extensive damage across South American countries, aid pledges with frantic rescue efforts underway,
00:01:06.860pledges of aid poured in from around the world.
00:02:49.620Thank you so much for having me today.
00:02:51.260Thanks for joining us. And we appreciated that, you know, Tim Ryan made this happen, made the introduction.
00:02:56.400So we're out here. All we see is clips. All we read is stories. We're not there.
00:03:01.740What can you tell us of what's going on right now in Venezuela?
00:03:05.320Well, right now, first of all, I just want to let everyone know that, you know, Venezuela is heartbroken at the moment.
00:03:11.660The devastation and the laws is incomprehensible, first of all, and it's a big tragedy.
00:03:17.240We've got people trapped under buildings. The rescue teams have not even reached them yet.
00:03:22.380I mean, it's deeply personal, and I know everyone is seeing in the news, but they're not feeling how we feel.
00:03:29.940And it's not just numbers on the screen for us.
00:03:32.920We've had dear friends, personal friends from university that were trapped under their buildings waiting for rescue,
00:03:39.580and they were holding on for their lives until they just couldn't anymore.
00:03:43.320i'm sorry and um you know it's deeply personal for us uh the the truth is we were not prepared
00:03:51.320for this the the country's not preferred for this type of stuff so that's why i'm deeply grateful
00:03:57.740to be here today you know to spread awareness and to let everyone know and to let our american
00:04:03.420brothers know that we do need help it's a fact we need help people are being crushed by buildings
00:04:09.300they're waiting for everyone to come in and help and we need a lot of supplies i'm here at the
00:04:14.660donation center at the moment i don't know if you can see around me we see it we're we're gathering
00:04:19.940clothes we're gathering surgical materials we're gathering medicine and you know people have lost
00:04:26.820everything people are losing everything at the moment they're living in the streets they're out
00:04:31.540in the cold they have not eating for 24 hours and you know it's a big devastation i know it's
00:04:38.900it's not what you see maybe in the news but here inside people are suffering and i just want to let
00:04:46.580everyone know out there that if you can extend your hand to help us out it is deeply appreciated
00:04:52.580we've got a bunch of friends a bunch of my friends are also setting up gofundmes there's
00:04:57.940foundations that are trying to help and i know all of the countries are helping but the crucial
00:05:03.940thing is it needs to be faster. You know, I had a couple of friends going down to La Guaira,
00:05:09.120which was the most affected, the state most affected. And they said they could hear people
00:05:14.620scream under the buildings, but there were no protection or rescue teams there yet. So it's
00:05:20.500mostly civilians trying to do whatever they can to take out the pieces of the building and bring
00:05:26.100people out. And, you know, we need all the resources we can. Our resources inside are
00:05:32.240running out you know i work here uh with the hospitals and a bunch of my friends are also
00:05:38.060in hospitals they're saying the resources are running out they're asking for donations and i
00:05:42.560know it's not what we can see out there in the news but this is the reality and let me ask you
00:05:47.800what did what did it feel like walk us through what happened you know when it happened both of
00:05:52.240them what did what did it feel like how long did it last how how wide is the impact in the states
00:05:57.260well where i lived it wasn't as intense as it was for other people i was at my house
00:06:04.260and it felt like the longest seven or ten seconds of my life the building was shaking intensely
00:06:12.280the lights were giving off my mom was also at the supermarket lights were giving off everything was
00:06:17.960shaking and after everything happened where you get to calm down you start seeing the videos
00:06:23.380videos of buildings going down building uh videos of people you know under the buildings and
00:06:31.040nobody expected this our last earthquake was probably more than 50 years ago and and as you
00:06:40.460may know and it is not a secret here we were not prepared for this and as soon as it came
00:06:47.420everybody was in shock and then the devastation and the lost came after uh buildings were going
00:06:54.380down and you started searching for your loved ones that was the worst part uh searching for
00:06:59.980your co-workers for your friends for your family trying to reach them and it was we were all
00:07:06.200desperate to hear of our loved ones they were okay and our friends so it was the longest seven
00:07:12.520And seven to ten seconds, that's how long it lasted.
00:07:15.500And that is how long it took for everything to crumble down, for people to start losing their lives, especially in La Guaira.
00:07:23.700I want to bring awareness to La Guaira because it was a state where almost, I think even more than what has been said, around, you know, a hundred buildings came down.