Merchants across the country transformed shops, warehouses and community networks into a relief effort after the deadliest quakes in decades
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenTeresa Elena Frontadoin WashingtonPublished: 5:51am, 30 Jun 2026Lutao Cen was swimming off Margarita Island, where he has lived for four decades, when twin earthquakes measuring above magnitude 7 struck northern Venezuela within two minutes.Only after returning to shore did he learn what had happened.
Messages flooded his WeChat feed. Friends in Caracas, Valencia and Maracay described buildings collapsing and streets filled with dust. Then came the news he had feared most.
A close friend in La Guaira, chairman of the local Chinese association, had been seriously injured after his shop collapsed. Three workers were killed. His 13-year-old daughter died beneath the rubble.
