Agustín Otxotorena, a Spanish expatriate living in Venezuela, described the emotional trauma caused by recent earthquakes during a Saturday interview [1].
The testimony highlights the psychological impact on residents and the vast geographic scale of the disaster in a region already facing significant instability.
Speaking on the television program "La Roca," Otxotorena detailed the mental health challenges facing those in the affected areas. He described a cycle of grief and frustration stemming from the seismic events [1].
"Hay momentos de ansiedad, de tristeza, de rabia..." Otxotorena said [1].
To convey the magnitude of the impact to a Spanish audience, Otxotorena used a geographic comparison involving his home country. He likened the reach of the disaster to a line stretching across northern Spain, encompassing multiple municipalities, and urban centers [1].
"Para que os hagáis una idea, es como si este terremoto fuese desde Asturias hasta País Vasco pillando todos los pueblos y ciudades que hay en esa línea," Otxotorena said [1].
The interview focused on the personal experiences of the expatriate community and the local population as they navigate the aftermath of the tremors. Otxotorena shared his feelings to provide a human perspective on the disaster and to illustrate the widespread nature of the devastation [1].
“"Hay momentos de ansiedad, de tristeza, de rabia..."”
The use of a Spanish geographic analogy to describe the Venezuelan earthquakes underscores the difficulty of communicating the scale of South American disasters to European audiences. By focusing on the emotional toll—specifically anxiety and anger—the account emphasizes that the crisis extends beyond physical infrastructure damage to a broader public health concern regarding mental trauma in the affected regions.
