Rescue teams and residents continued searching through collapsed buildings in northern Venezuela on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes killed at least 188 people, injured around 1,500 and left more than 200 trapped beneath the rubble.
The twin quakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, struck Wednesday evening and were among the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Thousands of people were also reported missing across the country.
Authorities said the coastal state of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas, suffered some of the worst destruction, with dozens of buildings collapsing and heavy casualties reported.
Panic gripped cities across northern Venezuela as residents rushed into the streets and searched through debris for missing relatives and neighbors. Television footage showed rescue workers using power tools to cut through piles of rubble in search of survivors.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez described La Guaira as a "disaster zone" and said rescue teams from other parts of the country were being deployed to the area. She also appealed to businesses to provide heavy construction equipment to aid rescue efforts and said United Nations-certified search-and-rescue teams were on their way.
State television showed several survivors, including three children, being pulled alive from the debris in La Guaira.
The earthquakes also damaged and forced the closure of Venezuela's main airport, while buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil's Amazon region, around 1,700 kilometres from Caracas.
The latest disaster poses a major challenge for the government of Acting President Rodríguez as Venezuela continues to struggle with a prolonged economic crisis and political uncertainty.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the first 7.2-magnitude quake struck near the Caribbean coastal city of Moron at a depth of about 22 kilometres. A second, stronger 7.5-magnitude quake followed just a minute later at a depth of around 10 kilometres.
Officials have urged residents to remain outdoors, warning that aftershocks could trigger further building collapses and additional casualties.