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Back-to-back earthquakes have killed at least 32 people in Venezuela, with at least 700 injured, acting President Delcy Rodríguez says.
The US Geological Survey earlier calculated a 44percent chance of more than 10,000 fatalities, and a 30 percent chance of more than 100,000
Rescuers in the capital are searching through the rubble for survivors and people have been heard calling for help, reports the BBC.
Buildings are without power and the metro system is completely closed, reports the BBC’s Vanessa Silva from Caracas
The quakes, which had magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit an area west of the capital, and could be felt as far away as Bogota, Colombia
Venezuela was celebrating a national holiday, and many people were at home when the quakes struck at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST)
The US is “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian assistance” to Venezuela, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.
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In a post on X, Rubio said “our hearts are with all those who have lost loved ones, those injured, and the courageous rescue workers working tirelessly in the aftermath”.
It comes after his deputy Christopher Landau said that the US was in touch with Venezuelan authorities and “mobilising assistance”.
Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez has thanked US President Donald Trump in a social media post, saying he has been in constant contact with the Venezuelan authorities.
In a statement shared on Facebook she says that the US government has offered support and solidarity to Venezuela.
It was one of a series of messages Rodríguez has shared thanking other leaders for their support. She has also thanked Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chile’s President José Antonio Kast among others.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier that the US “stands ready, willing, and able to help”, adding that he had “instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly”.
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