VIDEO: Two powerful quakes hit Venezuela, at least 164 dead and nearly 1,000 injured

Rescue teams raced on Thursday to the areas hardest hit by a pair of powerful earthquakes that rocked Venezuela, killing at least 164 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and trapping many beneath collapsed buildings.

Wednesday evening's 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region.

The country's main airport was damaged and closed, while buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil's Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers from Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

Television broadcasts on Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Panicked residents of the capital were sent pouring into the streets, and after the quakes many people walked among the debris searching for the missing among collapsed buildings and toppled electric poles.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who gave the latest death toll early on  Thursday, said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which sits north of Caracas on the coast. Officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble, she said.

Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodríguez described as a "disaster zone" and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings.

Rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed building in the Altamira neighbourhood following an earthquake in Caracas on Wednesday. AFP

"Dozens of buildings have collapsed there ... and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives," Rodríguez said.

Video shared online appeared to show dozens of people, some lying on the ground and others on hospital beds, being treated outside a hospital in La Guaira.

While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.

Residents and emergency workers stand near damaged buildings following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, early on Thursday. AFP

Rodríguez appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, adding that search and rescue teams certified by the United Nations were on their way to Venezuela.

During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street. Columns of dust rose in two typically busy neighborhoods in the capital.

"It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together," Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.

The US Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers. Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers southwest of Moron.

People stand in the rubble near a damaged building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira State, Venezuela, on Thursday. AFP

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage structures, and many people stayed on the streets for hours, some sitting on the ground hugging pets as dust gathered around them. In downtown Caracas, hundreds of people spent the night huddled around parks, parking lots and other open spaces. Authorities warned against returning to homes with structural damage.

"We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us," said María Cristina Díaz, a 41-year-old janitor.

"My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn't sleep a wink; but I didn't want to spend the night alone at home after that terrible earthquake."

"It was awful. We cried, we screamed. Thankfully, we're alive," she added.

Díaz and her family rushed to Plaza Candelaria in downtown Caracas because it's one of the few open areas near her home.

Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone coverage, and the earthquakes damaged and closed Simón Bolívar International Airport, the country's main airport, Rodríguez said.

In Caracas, subway services were suspended and natural gas shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.

On Thursday morning, scores of people in Venezuela and abroad struggled to contact family members. Families began posting missing-person fliers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for those still unaccounted for.

Powerful twin earthquakes have killed 32 people and injured more than 700, the nation's interim president said on Thursday. AFP

Also on Thursday, the UN human rights mission in Venezuela called on the government to lift local restrictions on social media.

"In the coming hours and days, timely access to reliable information and communication channels will be essential for the protection of the lives, safety, and well-being of the population," the mission said in a statement.

In August 2024, then President Nicolás Maduro ordered X blocked in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential elections.

Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late on Wednesday.

She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes, and had instructed the economy and finance ministers to oversee the effort.

Rescuers search for victims in a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on Wednesday. AFP

Offers of help poured in from countries around the world.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is "immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela."

"We will have a whole government response," Rubio said on Thursday in Bahrain.

"It will be big. It will be fast. It will be effective."

He added that one of the runways at Caracas' international airport was cracked in the earthquake, making landing aircraft there difficult.

A car crushed by a fallen tree is pictured as people walk in front of a destroyed building following an earthquake in Caracas on Wednesday. AFP

Rodríguez - who became acting president after an American military operation captured her predecessor, Nicolás and brought him to the US to stand trial - thanked US President Donald Trump.

She said in an X post later that she spoke with Rubio by phone without sharing details. She also expressed thanks to the leaders of various nations who have sent messages of support and offers of help.

Ecuador ordered the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Rodríguez said Qatar, Mexico and El Salvador had already sent rescue personnel.

"We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela," El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, once diametrically opposed to Venezuela's government, wrote in a post on X.

Associated Press