‘I Think It Was God’: How An Elevator Ride Saved Baseball Player Mejia From Venezuela Earthquakes

Last Updated:June 26, 2026, 18:32 IST

Moments after Mejía stepped clear of the structure, the hotel completely collapsed into a pile of rubble

Former New York Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejía survived a catastrophic hotel collapse during the Venezuela earthquakes thanks to an unexpected detour by his elevator. Mejía has openly credited “divine intervention" for his survival, explaining that a sudden change in the elevator’s direction pulled him out of harm’s way just moments before the building crumbled.

The miraculous escape

Mejía was staying at the luxury Eduard’s Hotel in La Guaira, which was hosting staff and players from local sports clubs.

After finishing a gym session, Mejía entered the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor where his room was located. Instead of ascending, the elevator went down to the basement/ground floor because another guest had requested the lift.

“I was in the gym area. And at that moment, I took the elevator to leave," Mejia said. “In fact, I had pressed number six, which was where my floor was. But… I think it was God because instead of going up, it went down to the basement," The Week reported him as saying.

This unexpected detour allowed him to exit the main lobby and step outside to safety right as back-to-back 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude earthquakes struck the Caracas region.

Moments after Mejía stepped clear of the structure, the hotel completely collapsed into a pile of rubble.

The earthquakes

Two catastrophic earthquakes struck the northern coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, causing widespread devastation, killing at least 500 people, and injuring more than 4,000 others. The first tremor, a magnitude 7.2 quake, was followed just 39 seconds later by an even stronger 7.5 magnitude tremor, making it the most powerful seismic event to hit the country since 1900. Seismologists have classified this rare back-to-back occurrence as a seismic doublet, which causes severe destruction because structures weakened by the first tremor face immediate failure from the second.

The tectonic cause and impact

The quakes were caused by shallow strike-slip faulting along the Boconó fault system, which is the boundary where the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally. Because the epicentres were shallow—occurring at depths of less than 30 km—the energy directed to the surface magnified the surface shaking.

A nationwide state of emergency has been declared by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez. The timing of the earthquakes compounded the tragedy, as they struck during a national public holiday when most citizens were gathered inside their homes.

With agency inputs

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Manjiri Joshi

At the news desk for 20 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing speci...Read More

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