Venezuela earthquakes: Canada will provide $5M for humanitarian aid to support emergency relief efforts

Canada testament apply improver economic aid to Venezuela: Carney

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Videos from Venezuela show building crumble, piles of rubble after quakes

How back-to-back earthquakes hit Venezuela

The 2 earthquakes that hit Venezuela were very unusual, says seismologist

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People walk past a collapsed building in Caracas on Thursday.

A damaged apartment building in Catia La Mar, Venezuela.

Emergency services work at the site of a collapsed building in Caracas.

An injured man in Caracas.

Rescue workers searching through the rubble in Caracas.

"Engagement doesn't mean endorsement. We need to find efficient ways to help on an international scale and that's exactly what we're doing."

Anand said there are about 800 Canadians in Venezuela who are registered with Global Affairs.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the federal government will provide an initial $5 million in humanitarian aid to support emergency relief efforts in Venezuela. 

The money will support "trusted and experienced partners" on the ground providing emergency assistance in the country, such as health and sanitation services, as well as protection and logistics services, says a news release from Global Affairs. 

"Canada stands with the people of Venezuela during this difficult time. Through this initial humanitarian assistance, we are supporting trusted partners in delivering urgent, life-saving aid to those most affected," Anand said in the release. 

One of the websites set up to help Venezuelans find missing loved ones says it has now received tens of thousands of reports about people who haven't been heard from. 

As of 4:30 p.m. ET, Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela says out of more than 45,000 people who have been reported missing on the site, little more than 4,000 have been located. 

Another website, Venezuela Te Busca, says it has received close to 20,000 submissions about people who are still missing. 

She's heard from several people who said their family members are OK, "but it must have been agony knowing all the devastation and the buildings had collapsed and not knowing where your family members are."

The office is in heavily damaged Catia La Mar, a city and port about 20 kilometres northwest of Caracas.

Photos from Catia La Mar show scenes of devastation, with buildings reduced to rubble and people sifting through the wreckage. Others show casualties and displaced residents taking shelter in a stadium.

The photo above of the comptroller's office shows the building partially collapsed, shifted backward, with rubble in the street below it.

'Our thoughts are with the Venezuelan people' after deadly earthquakes, Poilievre says

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said 'Canadians will be there to support' Venezuelans as the death toll rises after two earthquakes struck near the country's capital on Wednesday. 'We hope that we can minimize the losses and give the Venezuelan people relief in this terrible time,' Poilievre said.

At a news conference in Ottawa today, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his thoughts were with the Venezuelan people "as they deal with this terrible natural disaster." 

"I know that Canadians will be there to support Venezuelans and family members, thinking of their loved ones in that country. So our thoughts and prayers are with them," he said. 

Poilievre added he was happy to hear the prime minister offer to send humanitarian aid to the country today. 

"I thank him for that, and we hope that we can minimize the losses and give the Venezuelan people relief in this terrible time."

Poilievre's wife Anaida was born in Caracas and immigrated to Montreal with her family in 1995. 

He and his wife have been talking a lot about the situation since yesterday, Poilievre said.

The 2 earthquakes that hit Venezuela were very unusual, says seismologist

As Venezuelans search for loved ones, they're also remembering the terrifying minutes that everything shook. 

Ivanna Laura, 33, in Caracas: "It was a strong movement. I had never in my life lived something like that. I got nervous when I realized I was probably in an old building, and I started to think it could fall. We aren't used to this here. I was like, 'What do I do?' Do I run, do I go out, do I stay here? What do I do?"

Cesar Maican, 29, in a high-rise apartment building in Caracas: "When it started coming out in the news that there were two of them, I started remembering and yeah, there was a moment when it stopped maybe for five seconds. We said, 'let's go to the stairs!' And then it came back even stronger. The apartment was like a piece of paper. The living room went one way and then the other. We were screaming. I don't think I've ever screamed that much in my life. I've been through small earthquakes, but nothing like this. There was a moment I lost faith, and I said, 'we're not getting out of here.'"

Alejandro Narvaez, 40, was on the eighth floor of the apartment where he lives with his mother: "I tried to stay calm for her, but in fact, I was really, really worried. We were sitting in the living room, I tried to hold her, she was praying, and I just kept saying, 'stay calm, stay calm, stay calm.' I was actually really worried."

Damage could also be seen in Valencia, Venezuela's third-largest city.

Photos show cracks running through the Basílica Catedral de Valencia. In an Instagram post  on Thursday, parish priest Joel de Jesús Núñez Flautes wrote that both towers of the cathedral are fractured and the cathedral and parish office will be closed until further notice.

"Let's keep Venezuela in our prayers," Flautes wrote in Spanish.

At least 188 people have been killed by the twin earthquakes, the president of Venezuela's National Assembly said Thursday afternoon. 

Jorge Rodriguez says another 1,520 people have been reported injured and 200 are known to be trapped. 

Earlier, Venezuelan officials said initial casualty figures did not include those killed and injured in the hard-hit coastal region of La Guaira.

Canada to provide Venezuela earthquake humanitarian aid, Carney says

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is looking to direct humanitarian aid to Venezuela as death tolls rise after two earthquakes struck near the country's capital on Wednesday. Carney added that Venezuela and Iran are examples of countries where Canada lacks a diplomatic presence, 'and that puts us at a disadvantage.'

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is preparing to provide humanitarian assistance in Venezuela. 

"This obviously is a fast-developing tragedy," Carney said at a news conference in Ottawa. He said Canada is "moving to provide humanitarian aid" and that more details are expected later today.

Carney said Canada is working directly with international partners and will "scale those [efforts] as appropriate." He said that responding to the disaster is complicated by Canada's limited diplomatic presence in Venezuela.

"One of the challenges I've discovered… is that there are a series of countries with whom we have not seen eye to eye, to put it mildly, where we do not have representation in the countries," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the suffering is "heartbreaking" and "many are facing unbearable days ahead without shelter, food or certainty."

Global Affairs Canada officials are in touch with regional partners and aid groups, and Anand said Canada will "contribute to humanitarian efforts as appropriate."

Canada and Venezuela have not formally severed relations but Ottawa closed its Caracas embassy in June 2019 after Venezuela refused to renew expiring visas for diplomats.

Canada is one of several countries supporting Venezuelan opposition leaders following an election that was widely viewed as stolen.

Jesús Armas is out in some of the worst-affected parts of Caracas today, working with his neighbours to try and help any way they can — but he says it's just not enough.

People are sitting on their mattresses in the streets with nowhere to go, he says. There's not enough food or water to go around. He can hear screams from under the rubble, but first responders don't have the necessary equipment to save the survivors. 

He blames his government for this.

Earthquakes are not unexpected in Venezuela, and he says authorities should have been readying an emergency preparedness plan back when the country's oil industry was still  booming.

Now he fears acting President Delcy Rodriguez — who has been making speeches about Venezuelan unity — will exploit the crisis for her own benefit.

"There's unity between Venezuelans, but not because of the government," he said. "I don't doubt that Delcy Rodriguez is thinking right now how to use this situation to stay in power and to avoid a free and fair election in Venezuela."

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