Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around the capital, Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey.
Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings in Caracas as night fell, while distraught relatives sought help for loved ones feared trapped. Dazed survivors were taken away, some on stretchers.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said at least 164 people were confirmed dead. The initial toll did not include those from the worst-affected La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city's airport, where witnesses' footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down.
"Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save," she said on state television just before 1 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday.
"La Guaira state is a true tragedy, and has become a disaster zone."
The US Geological Survey, using predictive modelling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000.
A website set up to track missing people and posted on X by leaders from the country's opposition, many of whom are outside the country, listed more than 10,000 people as unaccounted for at 5.40 a.m. local time (0940 GMT). Trump offers help Aftershocks rattled Caracas into the early hours of Thursday.
Rodriguez said the country was focused on rescue efforts, including the arrival in the coming hours of rescue crews from other countries, as she thanked leaders, including US President Donald Trump .
Trump said in a social media post that the US was ready, willing and able to help in the disaster.
"The two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths," said Trump, who ordered the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a violent raid in January.
The UN's Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift local restrictions on social media, saying it was a "matter of life and death". In some areas, access had already become available as authorities struggled to cope in a country weighed down by years of economic mismanagement.
Leaders from countries including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Spain offered support and sympathy. The US State Department said it was in touch with Venezuelan authorities and mobilising assistance.
Venezuela lies in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate.
An estimated 30,000 people were killed when a quake caused widespread destruction in Merida and Caracas in 1812, according to the USGS. Hospitals brace for the injured At Caracas' Hospital de Clinicas, staff doubled up on the night shift to help treat the injured, a worker there said, and mobilisations were cancelled for the rest of the week. The city's stock exchange was closed and will be used to help rescue efforts.
The Venezuelan Red Cross said its headquarters had been critically damaged but that it had sent rescue teams to the worst-affected areas. France said its embassy was badly damaged. Venezuela's oil infrastructure did not immediately appear to have been affected. Civil protection authorities in Maracaibo, near the large oil hub of Lake Maracaibo, said no injuries were reported. A worker at the El Palito refinery near Morón, the earthquake's epicentre, said there was no damage there.
UK oil firm Shell, which is evaluating developing gas fields in Venezuela, said all its employees were accounted for with no injuries.
One source said an extended loss of power could hit crude output levels. Venezuela's oil ministry, state-run oil company PDVSA and its main foreign partner, Chevron, did not immediately reply to requests for comment.