Venezuela declares state of emergency after back-to-back earthquakes leave scores dead

Desperate Venezuelans battled Thursday to rescue loved ones trapped alive beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings after two major earthquakes that killed at least 188 people.

Buildings cracked and crumbled and residents fled into the streets after the quakes, which the United States Geological Survey measured at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, hit northern Venezuela within a minute of each other on Wednesday night.

Offers of rescue support and aid flooded in as National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said the death toll had risen to 188, with 1,520 injured. 

Read moreVenezuela earthquakes live: Death toll jumps to at least 164, nearly 1,000 injured

Powerful aftershocks could still be felt Thursday.

The state of La Guaira north of Caracas was hit particularly hard, and residents stumbled through debris calling out the names of loved ones or tried in vain to rescue the injured.

"There's a spot where a young woman named Jennifer, from the 11th floor, answers me. However, we don't have any tools; we have no way to help," said Antonio Bermudez, whose building collapsed in La Guaira.

Elsewhere in the rubble, a father and his son were using a pickaxe and a crowbar to pry away massive slabs to get to two of his other sons, said Bermudez.

"They're still alive ... there's nothing more we can do. We're telling them not to strain their voices, to take short breaths, in the hope that at least the three of them who are there will be rescued."

The coastal city was without electricity, and many residents spent the night in the streets or searching for their relatives.

"We thank God that... we are alive, but there are people suffering right now with family members trapped under the rubble or pinned down, unable to get them out," resident Yilsmaris Blanco told AFP.

US government pledge $150 million in aid

Interim president Delcy Rodriguez visited La Guaira on Thursday after the area was declared a "disaster zone".

UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply saddened" by the disaster as the global body vowed to assist Venezuela.

The strongest quake to hit Venezuela in 126 years will require "massive collective efforts", UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

Threatening to complicate relief efforts, the international airport is in La Guaira and has been closed after suffering serious damage.

Offers of support poured in from around the world, with Switzerland, Spain, France, Portugal and Mexico among those sending specialists and rescue teams to Venezuela.

China, India, Brazil and even war-battered Iran have also offered help, while Pope Leo XIV has sent an initial 100,000 euros in aid to the country.

The United States said Thursday it was mobilising $150 million in aid. The State Department said the package would include $50 million in new bilateral awards to aid groups already working in Venezuela, as well as a $100 million contribution to a UN humanitarian fund for the country.

Washington is closely involved in oil-rich Venezuela after US forces ousted and arrested president Nicolas Maduro in January.

Tremors felt in Colombia, Brazil

Venezuela's northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but has not suffered a significant quake since 1997, when 73 people died.

Another quake in 1967 killed 236 people.

Wednesday's 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the most powerful since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore.

The quake was felt across Colombia, where residents in Bogota evacuated buildings as a precaution.

Tremors were also reported in several cities in northern Brazil, according to the country's seismic monitoring network.

Scenes of panic and destruction played out in the capital Caracas after the quakes.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)