Scenes from Venezuela and SoCal: Hope battles with despair after massive quakes

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Set us as preferred They arrived with rescue dogs, sophisticated listening devices and cutting tools that can rip through concrete.On Sunday, the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s international urban search and rescue team descended on a collapsed 10-story high-rise in Caraballeda, a coastal town devastated by Venezuela’s back-to-back earthquakes, as part of the scramble to find survivors.Residents told authorities they believed eight people were trapped in the enormous pile of debris, said Assistant Fire Chief Trey Espy, who was on the scene.Rescue workers heard noises that raised the possibility that someone underneath was still alive, Espy told The Times.The prospects for rescuing survivors have been diminishing with each day that has passed since the twin quakes — one magnitude 7.5, the other 7.2 — struck Venezuela, leaving nearly 1,500 people dead and tens of thousands missing.Espy described the situation as “very grim,” with many high-rises leveled or pancaked in the tourist destination.“Everywhere you look, everything’s collapsed or shifted off its foundation,” he said.

“Some are completely destroyed.Some buildings have fallen into other buildings.”While L.A.

County’s rescue team carried out its work, Southern Californians mobilized to gather much-needed supplies, while also seeking answers about missing loved ones.In Pasadena, volunteers at the restaurant Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine collected supplies, issuing a special plea for bandages, gauze, painkillers and other over-the-counter medicines.Augusto Giancola, who was helping with the effort, said three to four people had been showing up each hour with “trunks full of stuff.”“There’s a sense of despair,” the Pasadena resident said.“But we are a very hopeful people.

It’s more about what we can do at this point, figuring out how w...