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

0:00It'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.

0:30that'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 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.

1:05From NPR, I'm Juana Summers.

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2:10It'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 and the hardest-hit areas, families of the missing have taken it upon themselves to dig through the rubble to find their loved ones. NPR's Eder Peralta recently joined some of them as they searched for the missing. 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.

2:48On the hills, many of the high-rises that looked out upon the Caribbean have crumbled.

2:57And the focus for all the neighbors is 10-year-old Moises. His dad, René Ramírez, 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.

3:32But he 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.

3:51Moises 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.

4:05His 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.

4:31That 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 Los Cocos Beach, I find Ivanovska Ortega, 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.

5:14She 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.

5:48They 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.

6:02It 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. 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, they say, and take off to the next building. Even eight days after the earthquake, miracles do continue to happen.

7:02A 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.

7:46We got no help, he says. They treated us like dogs. By the time we get back to the quiet beach town, it was past two in the morning. Finally, a crew with big machines had showed up. Moises' cousin Alejandro Ramirez leans against a truck. His eyes are heavy.

8:12Yesterday, 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.

8:26Those 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. It's 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. Iterpralta, in Pure News, La Guayra, Venezuela.

9:11This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre with audio engineering by Ted Meebane. Our director is Elena Burnett. It was edited by Tara Neal and Tinby Ermias. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.

9:27It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Juana Summers. For three weeks in 2020, part of my Seattle neighborhood was taken over by a protest occupation. We were here to protest police brutality. But it ended in tragedy. The whole space felt darker and angrier. Join me as I investigate the unsolved killing of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. Listen to We Keep Us Safe on the Embedded Podcast from NPR. This week on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, we talked to best-selling author Caro Claire Burke about how it feels to write the hip book of the summer. I've been very dissociative, so that's a problem for my future therapist.

10:09Yeah, I see. Let's talk about the fact you're not in therapy. That's fascinating. 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.