Lutao Cen was swimming off Margarita Island, where he has lived for four decades, when twin earthquakes measuring above magnitude 7 struck northern Venezuela within two minutes.
Only after returning to shore did he learn what had happened.
Messages flooded his WeChat feed. Friends in Caracas, Valencia and Maracay described buildings collapsing and streets filled with dust. Then came the news he had feared most.
A close friend in La Guaira, chairman of the local Chinese association, had been…