Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that at least 164 people have died and nearly 1,000 were injured after major earthquakes hit the country.
The acting president had said earlier that at least 32 people had died after Wednesday evening's 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, and that the toll was expected to rise.
The quakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. Buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil's Amazon, about 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) from Venezuela's capital, Caracas. A tsunami warning was issued but swiftly cancelled after the danger passed. Residents across Caracas, which was also hit by a deadly magnitude-6.3 earthquake in 1967, rushed to evacuate as buildings shook.
However, the final tally could be much higher as thousands are likely to be trapped under the debris. The U.S. Geological Survey, using predictive modelling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000. A website set up to track missing people and posted on X by leaders from the country's opposition, many of whom are outside the country, listed more than 6,600 people as unaccounted for soon after 2 a.m. local time. Many Venezuelans were at home when the quakes struck during the afternoon on a public holiday. "There was a very loud crash," one witness recalled.
The UN's Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift local restrictions on social media, saying it was a "matter of life and death".
Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of a collapsed building in Caracas as night fell, while distraught relatives sought help for loved ones feared trapped. Several dazed survivors were taken away, some on stretchers. "When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie," said María Alejandra, a resident from a nearby building, who did not give her surname. "We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbours coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out."
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said the initial casualty figures do not include those from the worst-affected La Guaira State, near Caracas and home to the city's airport, which had been closed. "Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save," she said in an appearance on state television just before 1 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday.
