Rescuers search rubble for survivors as Venezuela earthquakes kill at least 188

Rescuers are searching through rubble in a rush to save lives after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela near the capital, killing at least 188 people and injuring more than 1,500.

In Caracas and the nearby coastal city of La Guaira, people could be heard calling for help from under the debris of collapsed buildings.

The first 7.2-magnitude quake was followed seconds later by an even stronger 7.5-magnitude one, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with both occurring close to the surface, making destruction more severe.

Many more people are feared dead, with others left homeless or too afraid to stay in damaged, unsafe buildings sleeping in the streets after the disaster.

The earthquakes struck at 18:04 local time (22:04 GMT) on Wednesday – a national holiday in Venezuela, meaning more people would have been at home than on a normal weekday.

Both quakes were shallow – the first centred 20.3km below the surface and the second at a depth of 10km, according to USGS.

Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, reported on Thursday that the death toll had risen, after the country’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency.

Several countries have pledged to help the rescue efforts, with the US promising $150m (£113m) in aid.

Jorge Rodríguez said 250 buildings had been damaged or lost, mostly in La Guaira, where the BBC verified footage of a 10-storey hotel reduced to rubble. On Thursday, people were searching for loved ones there.

Juan Ortiz told the BBC one of his close friends had been confirmed dead, another was believed to be under the rubble, and around 20 people he knew who live in the coastal area were missing.

“I’m in shock and confusion, and frustrated that I can’t help,” the medical student in Caracas said.

Buildings were also brought down in the capital, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said, with Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua and Miranda also affected.

Mayor Gustavo Duque of Chacao, which forms part of the greater metropolitan area of Caracas, said outside one ruined building on Thursday that 11 people had died there and 23 had been rescued.

In a video update posted on social media, he said the team was trying to clear the rubble so that specialists could go in “to reach people who are hopefully still alive”.

“We’re trying to rescue as many people alive as possible,” he said.

Venezuela’s main international airport in Maiquetía on the outskirts of Caracas has been closed due to serious damage, the country’s interim president said. Video from inside the terminal showed dust and debris falling from the ceiling.

About 250km (155 miles) northwest of Caracas, another verified video showed a multi-storey building, reportedly a hotel, collapsed in Tucacas on the coast.

Aftershocks have continued to ripple through the area, with at least 30 recorded after the two earthquakes, Delcy Rodríguez told state-run television channel Venezolana de Televisión.

It is likely the death toll will rise further. The USGS said: “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread.”

It estimated there was a 42% chance of more than 10,000 deaths and a 33% chance of more than 100,000 as a result of the earthquakes, based on a range of factors including previous, similar quakes and the size of the nearby population.

These figures were issued to help the emergency response and are not an exact prediction. They were calculated based on previous earthquakes with similar characteristics, as well and other factors such as the size and depth of each quake.

Other elements play into the potential injuries and deaths, including the quality of the buildings and the time of day the quakes hit.

Venezuela lies over the meeting point of two tectonic plates and the earthquakes were likely caused by the sudden release of friction between them.

Caracas-based journalist Luis Hernandez told BBC Newsday that assessing the true scale of the damage would be difficult, with power cuts and internet failures complicating the situation.

“Due to the economic crisis in the country, it is very difficult for us to assess,” he said.

Cabello told VTV that the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes neighbourhoods of Caracas were the worst hit.

The two were also among the worst-affected in 1967, when the last major earthquake to hit the Venezuelan capital struck, killing 200 people.

The second earthquake is the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900, USGS records show.

“It’s the strongest quake I’ve ever felt in my life,” said BBC Mundo’s Nicole Kolste.

Kolster, who lives on the seventh floor of an apartment building in Los Palos Grandes, added: “It was so strong that I thought the building was going to fall on top of me.”

Colombians reportedly felt the earthquake hundreds of kilometres away in the capital, Bogotá.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote on X: “My heart, my infinite embrace, and my prayers are with every Venezuelan home in these hours of anguish.”

Delcy Rodríguez said rescuers were working to reach survivors, with support being sent from the US, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Qatar.

The disaster serves as the first test of Venezuela’s new relationship with the US since President Donald Trump ordered the capture of its President Nicolás Maduro in January.

Trump said he had instructed his government “to get ready to move quickly”.

“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,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The US “stands ready, willing and able to help!” he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian assistance”.

The Trump administration has sought to reshape relations with Venezuela since the seizure of Maduro, a longtime critic of the US, and early on threw its support behind his former lieutenant Delcy Rodríguez.

Additional reporting by Esme Stallard and Gabriela Pomeroy