Buildings collapse in Caracas after powerful earthquakes rock Venezuela

Two powerful earthquakes have struck Venezuela, near the capital Caracas, causing buildings to collapse and residents to rush onto the streets.

The first 7.2-magnitude quake was followed just 39 seconds later by a stronger 7.5-magnitude quake, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with witnesses reporting tremors in neighbouring Colombia as well.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency, and has appointed a general to oversee the emergency response.

The USGS said "high casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread".

There's a 44% chance of more than 10,000 fatalities and a 30% chance of more than 100,000, the USGS added, with a significant risk of landslides and liquefaction on the ground.

During her address to the nation, Rodríguez gave condolences to those who had lost loved ones in the quake, without giving numbers of fatalities.

Rodríguez also confirmed that Maiquetía airport, Venezuela's main international airport which is located on the outskirts of Caracas, was closed due to "serious damage".

US President Donald Trump said he had instructed his government "to get ready to move quickly" in response to the earthquakes.

"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 said in a post to Truth Social.

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

The number of fatalities have not been reported so far.

More than 20 aftershocks have been felt since the first quakes, Agence France-Presse has reported, citing the president's office.

Separately, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello confirmed on state television earlier that buildings were down in Caracas and videos posted to social media showed some cracked, badly damaged or collapsed.

A tsunami warning was issued for the coast of Venezuela and the islands of Aruba and Bonaire but was later cancelled.

The magnitude-7.2 earthquake, initially reported as 7.1, was centred in the state of Yaracuy at a depth of 21.9km at 6.04pm local time (23:04 BST) on Wednesday, according to the USGS.

The second earthquake's epicentre was 23km southeast of the town of Yumare and about 10km deep, according to the USGS.

"It's the strongest quake I've ever felt in my life," Nicole Kolster, a journalist and contributor to BBC Mundo said.

Kolster lives on the 7th floor of an apartment building in the Palos Grandes area, in central Caracas, where the shaking from the 7.2‑magnitude earthquake on Wednesday afternoon was intense.

"It started shaking, I saw the windows moving, and the only thing I could think to do was to get between the front door and a stone wall, which in my judgement is quite strong, to try to protect myself," Kolster recounted.

She stayed there "for quite a while," until she heard neighbours shouting for everyone to go down to the street.

"It was so strong that I thought the building was going to fall on top of me," she said.

One photograph taken by an Agence France-Presse journalist shows a building, believed to be a bank in Caracas, in ruins.

Colombians reportedly felt the earthquake hundreds of kilometres away in the capital Bogotá, where some people were evacuated as a precaution.

The timing of the quakes fell on a national holiday in Venezuela, commemorating the 1821 Battle of Carabobo, a decisive victory by Venezuelan independence leader Simón Bolívar against the Spanish colonial power.

More people than usual would therefore have been at home than on a normal weekday.

Cabello said multiple Venezuelan states had been affected by the quake.

"This is a seismic event, everything indicates that it had a magnitude much greater than seven," he told VTV via telephone.

"It has been strongly felt in Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, Miranda, Caracas and La Guaira."

Cabello added that in Caracas the neighbourhoods of Los Palos Grandes and Altamira were worst hit.

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

In a statement on X, Nobel Peace prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said: "My heart, my infinite embrace, and my prayers are with every Venezuelan home in these hours of anguish."

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