Two big earthquakesearthquakes/ˈɜːrθkweɪks/L1地震when the ground shakes very hard because of moving rocks under the earth hit Venezuela last week and many buildings fell down in the north. More than 1,700 people died in La Guaira and other cities near the coast. People used crowbars and pickaxes to dig for their families in the rubblerubble/ˈrʌbəl/L1碎石，瓦砾broken pieces of stone, brick, or other material from a building that has fallen down. They were very sad and scared because a small aftershockaftershock/ˈæftərʃɒk/L2余震a small earthquake that happens after a bigger one, usually in the same area shook the city on Monday. The governmentgovernment/ˈɡʌvərnmənt/L1政府the group of people who make rules and decisions for a country did not send help fast so people had to help each other with their hands.
One woman said the help came too slow and she was very angry about it. International aid started to arrive from the US and other countries to give food and water. Rescuerescue/ˈreskjuː/L1救援，营救to save someone from danger or harm teams from Mexico and El Salvador used dogs and special machines to find people. They saved a young man after 100 hours under the rubblerubble/ˈrʌbəl/L1碎石，瓦砾broken pieces of stone, brick, or other material from a building that has fallen down in Caraballeda. Many people lost their homeshomes/hoʊmz/L1家，住宅the place where a person or family lives and had no food or water to drink.
