What's it like to search for loved ones after an earthquake?

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: What's it like to search for loved ones after an earthquake?
Podcast: Consider This from NPR
Date: July 2, 2026
Host: Juana Summers, reporting by Pierre Ador Peralta

This episode explores the aftermath of twin earthquakes in Venezuela that have left thousands dead, injured, and missing. Through immersive reporting, the NPR team follows families and rescue workers in devastated coastal towns as they search for survivors and mourn those lost. The human stories behind the statistics illuminate the desperate, personal struggles of Venezuelans caught in the disaster.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Scale of the Disaster

• Death toll and missing: Over 2,295 deceased, 11,000+ injured, tens of thousands missing. (00:00; 02:27)
• Families are desperately searching for loved ones amongst the rubble with limited resources and little official assistance.

Life Amid the Ruins: Personal Stories

Playa Basito: The Search for Moises

• Once a vibrant beach town, Playa Basito is now unrecognizable. Residents sleep outdoors, many high rises have collapsed.
• Focused on the quest to find 10-year-old Moises, who went missing when his family’s apartment crumbled.
  • Moises’ father, Rene Ramirez, digging for a week with neighbors: "He's my middle child." (02:52)
  • Moises was deaf and mute but beloved for his joy and humor. His cousin, Alejandro Ramirez, recalls:

    "I didn't understand a thing, but he still made me laugh." (03:50)

  • During the earthquake, Moises tried to save the family dog before he disappeared in the rubble.

The Search for Romel Parra in Moscokos Beach

• Ivános Ortega searches for best friend Romel Parra, his wife, and their daughter.
• Ortega recounts receiving an unsettling phone call after the quake, hearing only static.
• A moment of hope as miners and dogs arrive to help, but soon fades when a video reveals Parra’s wife and daughter’s bodies trapped in the ruins.
• Ortega finds comfort in faith and community support:

  "They're with Christ, my love, and you're demonstrating what true friendship looks like." (06:01)

Grief and Anger Against Authorities

• Another father, anonymous out of fear of retribution, mourns alone after his two children’s bodies are discovered, his wife still missing:

  "I'm so angry at the government that they just let us die here… We got no help. They treated us like dogs." (07:55)

• Widespread frustration over lack of government aid and the slow pace of rescue efforts.

Persistence and Exhaustion

• Alejandro Ramirez shares the toll of relentless searching:

  "Yesterday I got to the point where my body just couldn't take it anymore. But he's not leaving, he says, until Moises is out of the rubble." (08:24)
  "Those of us who are alive are living in a purgatory, we don't know what is going to happen to us."

• Even with excavators finally arriving, the process is painstaking and emotionally draining.

Brief Moments of Hope – and Heartbreak

• Rare stories of survival on day eight, but most searches end in loss.
• When Moises’ body is found, he’s mourned and buried that afternoon, remembered as "impossibly beautiful" by neighbors.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Juana Summers [00:00]: "Consider this: behind the staggering numbers of the dead, missing, and injured are the stories of real people who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives."
• Alejandro Ramirez, cousin of Moises [08:24]: "Yesterday I got to the point where my body just couldn't take it anymore. But he's not leaving... Those of us who are alive are living in a purgatory."
• Anonymous grieving father [07:55]: "I'm so angry at the government that they just let us die here… They treated us like dogs."
• Ivános Ortega, on her friend’s faith [06:01]: "They’re with Christ, my love, and you’re demonstrating what true friendship looks like."

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:12: Context and death toll; intro to Venezuelan tragedy
• 02:27–03:49: Scenes from Playa Basito; Moises’ story begins
• 03:50–06:10: Moises’ personality and search, transition to Moscokos Beach
• 06:11–07:13: Ortega’s search for Parra & his family; faith and loss
• 07:14–08:24: Grieving father’s anger at government
• 08:25–09:22: Alejandro Ramirez’s exhaustion and perseverance; Moises found and mourned

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Tone & Language

The reporting is somber, empathetic, and personal, focusing on the lived realities of disaster survivors. Firsthand accounts and community voices are foregrounded, respecting the emotional complexity of loss, frustration, and fleeting hope.

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Summary

This episode offers a moving, ground-level narrative of families searching for loved ones in post-earthquake Venezuela. Through vivid storytelling, listeners witness the overwhelming devastation, learn about individual lives upended in moments, and feel both the exhaustion of persistence and the acute sting of loss. The failures of authorities magnify the suffering, but moments of community and friendship endure amid the ruins.

Transcript

[Juana Summers]

It's Consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story today, searching for loved ones in Venezuela. It has been more than one week since twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela. As of Wednesday, the death toll soared to 2,295 people with more than 11,000 injured. That's according to official data from Venezuela's government. Tens of thousands more are missing and time is running out to find people alive in the rubble. That's a rescue worker shouting into a large void in the middle of some rubble, announcing himself and asking any possible survivors to make noise. Throughout the country, families and rescue workers are left to search for loved ones who might still be alive. Consider this behind the staggering numbers of the dead, missing and injured, I are the stories of real people who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. We follow some people who are searching for their loved ones. From npr, I'm juana summers.

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[Peter Sagal]

Hi, it's me, Peter Sagal, host of Wait, Wait, don't tell me. It's summer. And if you want to turn your pool party into a nerd fest, check out our news quiz. We got comedians, we got celebrities, we got games to help you laugh about the week's news. Yeah, that news. It'll be just like we're all hanging out at your backyard barbecue. Listen every week to Wait, Wait, don't tell me. On the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts,

[Juana Summers]

It's consider this from npr. The devastation is vast in Venezuela. The death toll from the earthquake has reached nearly 2,300. More than 11,000 are injured, according to the official government count. Along the northern coast in the hardest hit areas, families of the missing have taken it upon themselves to dig through the rubble to find their loved one. And Pierre's Ador Peralta recently joined some of them as they search for the missing.

[Pierre Ador Peralta]

Just a few weeks ago, Playa Basito used to be an idyllic little beach town. Snack shops along the beach, thatched roof, stores that sold swimwear. Now dozens of people are sleeping Outdoors, in those same restaurants on the hills, many of the high rises that looked out upon the Caribbean have crumbled. And the focus for all the neighbors is 10 year old Moises. His dad, Rene Ramirez, has been here for seven days, digging by hand with neighbors, trying to find him under the rubble of his apartment. He's my middle child. When the earthquake struck, he was at home with his two brothers and his mom. They ran toward the door as the earth started shaking, his mom says. When things started falling on her, she made eye contact with Moises,

[Peter Sagal]

But he

[Pierre Ador Peralta]

ran back into the house to try to save the family dog. Ramirez's wife and his two other kids were rescued from the wreckage hours after the quake. Without thinking, Ramirez slips into the past tense. Moises was a lovely, sweet kid, very playful. He was deaf and mute, but the whole neighborhood knew him because he found a way to make people laugh. His cousin, Alejandro Ramirez, says he would start joking as soon as he saw you. I didn't understand a thing, but he still made me laugh. As we talk, the neighbors working on the dig find some of his belongings. It means Moises must not be far. That night, I take a ride along the coast on a motorcycle, and the destruction is apocalyptic. Some buildings are pulverized, others have tipped over. The different floors are stacked neatly on top of each other. Wherever you turn, there is desperation. In Moscokos Beach, I find Ibanos Cortega, who is looking for Romel Parra, her best friend. He's like my brother, she says. On her phone, she has a picture of Parra, his wife and their little girl. He's making a silly face. The little girl is serious, dressed in her Sunday best. Ortega says she got a call from Parra two days ago. She picked up, but all she heard was static, like he was in a closed room. For seven days they've searched alone, trying to figure out which pieces of concrete they can remove safely. But finally she was able to find a group of miners, experts in search and rescue, to come and help. They came with dogs and heat sensors. It was a moment of hope. The miners get right to work. They want silence so they can hear if anyone is alive. They hear noises on top of the building, and they climb quickly. Another man wiggles into a hole at the bottom of the building, and he emerges with a video on his cell phone. It shows a woman trapped in the rubble, hugging a little girl. Ortega just shakes her head as reality hits. These were the most Christian people she knew, she tells herself. I just want to go down a. These were praying people. They prayed, when they ate, when they left home, when they got in the car, a neighbor wraps her arms around her. They're with Christ, my love, and you're demonstrating what true friendship looks like. The miners say it's too dangerous to pull out the bodies because they're already decomposing. We did what we could say and take off to the next building. Even eight days after the earthquake, miracles do continue to happen. A person was found alive on day eight, but not that night. That night, a nearly full moon rose over the wreckage and the air smelled of death. In the corner of another building, the father quietly sobs. He's alone now. They had just pulled the bodies of Both his kids, 10 and 15, out of the wreckage. His wife is still in there somewhere. I'm so angry at the government that they just let us die here. He asked. We not use his name because he fears retribution from the government. We got no help, he says. They treated us like dogs. By the time we get back to the quiet beach town, it was past 2 in the morning. Finally, a crew with big machines had showed up. Moises cousin Alejandro Ramirez leans against a truck. His eyes are heavy. Yesterday I got to the point where my body just couldn't take it anymore. But he's not leaving, he says, until Moises is out of the rubble. Those of us who are alive are living in a purgatory, he says. We don't know what is going to happen to us. The machine struggled with a huge boulder that ended up inside the apartment building. Its painstaking work. The backhoe moves some dirt and everyone inspects it for signs of Moises. They search until the sun comes up, and around midday they do find Moises. The boy who one neighbor called impossibly beautiful, was laid to rest that same afternoon. IR Proalta in Pierre News, La Guayda, Venezuela.

[Juana Summers]

This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. Our director is Elena Burnett. It was edited by Tara Neal and Tin Beat Armies. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning. It's consider this from npr. I'm juana summers.

[Peter Sagal]

This week on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, we talk to best selling author Caro Clare Burke about how it feels to write the hit book of the summer.

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Don't miss our full conversation and the rest of our games. Listen to the Wait, wait. Don't Tell Me podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts

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