Really built to last: Why one modest apartment block outlived luxury towers in Venezuela

LA GUAIRA (Venezuela), July 8 — As deadly earthquakes reduced much of Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to rubble, one modest apartment block remained standing — and its builders believe they know why.

Elias Eduardo Chayeb fought back tears when he saw the three-storey seafront building he had helped his father construct two decades ago had survived.

Surrounded by the ruins of taller and more luxurious apartment blocks, the family’s building stood almost untouched.

“On my way here, passing all the destruction, when I saw that it was still standing, I thanked God,” the 37-year-old told AFP.

La Guaira, a popular beach destination about 40 kilometres from Caracas, bore the brunt of the twin magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that devastated parts of Venezuela.

The Chayeb family’s building, which houses six apartments in Puerto Viejo near Caracas’ international airport, remained standing despite widespread destruction around it.

Elias Eduardo and his father, who is also named Elias, believe its survival came down to its relatively low height, solid construction materials and foundations designed for La Guaira’s notoriously unstable terrain.

‘Passed the test’

Although some walls cracked, the building’s foundations, columns, staircases and windows remained intact.

Most importantly, everyone inside survived unhurt.

“The building passed the test,” the elder Elias said with visible relief.

The veteran builder said that throughout his career of more than six decades, he had consistently refused to construct high-rise buildings because he believed they were unsuitable for La Guaira’s landscape.

His caution was shaped by memories of the catastrophic 1999 landslide that killed thousands in the region, as well as the deadly 1967 earthquake that struck Caracas.

“Many of the buildings that they asked me to take on, and that I rejected, collapsed,” he said, pointing towards a hillside where apartment blocks more than 10 storeys high once stood.

When the earthquakes struck, many of those buildings crumbled within seconds, leaving residents with little chance to escape.

Elias Eduardo said properly designed earthquake-resistant buildings are meant to absorb seismic energy. While they may crack during a powerful quake, they are built to avoid catastrophic collapse.

‘La Guaira is gone’

According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquakes struck along the San Sebastian fault system, which runs along Venezuela’s northern coastline.

The agency warned that the shaking could leave steep slopes vulnerable to landslides for months or even years.

“That fault is here to stay,” the elder Chayeb said.

His parents had emigrated from Syria to Venezuela during World War I.

He believes the disaster should prompt a complete rethink of zoning laws in the area.

For resident Ingrid Palacios, 61, surviving the earthquake inside the Chayeb family’s building feels nothing short of miraculous.

Looking out over the devastation, she said the La Guaira she once knew “is gone”.

The rebuilt city, she believes, will consist of “three-storey buildings, little chalets and very small houses.” — AFP