Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez declares a state of emergency after two major earthquakes shook the capital Caracas just seconds apart - the first a magnitude 7.2 and the second 7.5
Rescue crews are searching the rubble of collapsed multi-storey buildings for survivors and Venezuela's main international airport has been closed due to serious damage from the earthquakes
Rodríguez offers her condolences without specifying how many people have died while the US Geological Survey warns of high casualties and extensive damage, saying the "disaster is likely widespread"
Venezuela was celebrating a national holiday and many people would have been at home when the quakes struck at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST)
The quakes hit an area west of Caracas, and could be felt throughout the country and as far away as Bogota, Colombia
BBC News Mundo, our Spanish language website, is also providing live updates
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez told Venezuelans in an address on state TV that train and metro services would be halted for the time being.
She also said that classes would be suspended for the remainder of the week.
Maiquetía international airport, which is located on the outskirts of Caracas, has also been closed after parts of the ceiling collapsed.
More than 20 aftershocks have rattled Venezuela since the first earthquakes hit on Wednesday, AFP news agency reported, citing the president's office.
The hardest hit areas are along the country's northern coast, including La Guaira, Aragua, Carabobo and Falcón.
Photographs taken in the hours since the tremors struck show residents gathered along the streets of Venezuela's capital, after their homes shook and the power went out.
Some hug their siblings and pets, while rescuers sift through debris for those trapped.
Authorities fear high casualties, but the full extent of damage is still unknown.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, EPA
Image source, EPA
Image source, Getty ImagesBBC Mundo contributor Nicole Kolster said earlier that people could be heard calling for help from under the rubble of a collapsed building.
“‘Ask for help. We’re here,’ is what you can hear,” she said.
After the quake, others were "still outside waiting for safety in case there’s an aftershock,” Kolster added.
“The recommendation is not to go back up into the building,” she explained.
Maria Elise, a local from the Caracas suburb of Palos Grandes, described how her apartment "has some cracked walls. There are fallen utility poles, we have no electricity, no signal."
Footage from the ground, captured by BBC reporter Vanessa Silva, shows rescuers searching for survivors under the debris of a collapsed multi-storey building in the north Caracas suburb of San Bernardino.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that at least one person has died in the neighbourhood.
Twin earthquakes have caused multiple buildings to collapse in the Venezuelan capital, and authorities fear there could be high casualties and extensive damage across the city.
Rescuers search through building rubble for survivors
Maiquetía airport, Venezuela's main international airport, has been closed due to "serious damage" from the earthquake, Rodríguez says.
Footage that emerged from the airport earlier showed people fleeing through its corridors and dust columns billowing down from its ceilings as the quakes hit.
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez has just addressed the nation.
Flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, who is the head of the National Assembly, she declared a state of emergency.
She also designated a general to oversee the emergency response.
Delcy Rodríguez declares state of emergency
Rodríguez has been leading the country on an interim basis since her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, was seized by US forces in January and taken to New York to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges.
In her speech, she appealed above all for unity from the Venezuelan people.
She also gave her condolences to those who had lost loved ones in the quake, without giving numbers of fatalities.
Footage has emerged of people fleeing through the halls of Maiquetía airport as the quake hits, while trying to shield themselves from falling debris.
Video captures moment airport is damaged in earthquake
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor
Image source, Getty ImagesThe mayor of Chacao, Gustavo Duque Saez, says there are at least two buildings in this municipality - which forms part of the greater metropolitan area of Caracas - which have completely collapsed.
He says that 18 people had been rescued alive and that more than 500 emergency workers were on site trying to pull out more residents.
"In Chacao, no one is alone, and we won't move from here until every resident is rescued."
He also urged locals trying to track down missing relatives to go to two main local squares - Plaza Altamira and Plaza Los Palos Grandes - where local officials have set up an emergency centre, where information is being collated and those affected are provided with water and shelter.
"Not only do we have two building which have collapsed but also a list of others whose structure has been compromised."
Image source, Getty ImagesFirst responders work at a damaged building at Los Palos Grandes in Caracas
In a post on X, the US embassy in Caracas says it is "closely monitoring the aftermath" of the earthquake.
It urges people to "avoid damaged areas and do not enter damaged buildings".
In further guidance, it adds that people should monitor local media for updates and "seek secure shelter".
BBC reporter in Caracas describes extensive damage
Further to Vanessa's video of the moment when the quake struck, the journalist has described to us the aftermath of the tremor.
The number of deaths and injuries is not yet known, she says, but she describes how her own neighbour broke her arm during the shaking.
Moment BBC reporter's apartment shakes
"Oh God! Oh God!" exclaims BBC reporter Vanessa Silva as the earthquake hits her home in Caracas.
A chandelier - and the apartment itself - can be seen shaking while a rumbling is heard in the background.
Image source, Getty ImagesRescue workers evacuate an injured person from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on 24 June 24.
If you're just joining us, here's a round-up of what's happened so far:
'Heaviest quake I've felt in Venezuela', says Caracas resident
Cracked glass and smashed food containers litter the floor of one Caracas resident's home.
Juan Arraez says this is the "heaviest quake I've felt in Venezuela".
“It’s the strongest quake I’ve ever felt in my life,” journalist and BBC Mundo contributor Nicole Kolster says.
She was on the 7th floor of an apartment building in Palos Grandes, central Caracas, when the earthquake began.
"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 judgment is quite strong, to try to protect myself,” Kolster recounts.
She stayed there “for quite a while,” until she heard neighbours shouting for everyone to go down to the street.
"I thought the building was going to fall on top of me," she says.
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor
Image source, Getty ImagesThe first quake struck at 18:04 local time (22:04 GMT) which would normally have been the height of the rush hour.
But 24 June is 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.
Footage shared on social media showed residents rushing into the streets.
In one video two men can be seen trying to hold on to a swaying vitrine full of china, while items crash to the floor.
You can also get live updates on BBC News Mundo, our Spanish language website.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has asked people to leave their homes, AFP reports. Cabello says that petrol supplies to several building have been preemptively cut as a precaution.
"We have some damaged structures and we don't want any kind of accident involving gas to occur," Cabello said.
Image source, US Geological SurveyThe epicentre of the second earthquake is located about 23km southeast of Yumare in Venezuela.
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor
Image source, Getty ImagesThis is not the first time the Venezuelan capital has been hit by a major earthquake.
In 1967, more than 200 people died when a 6.6-magnitude quake struck Caracas, destroying buildings in the middle-class neighbourhood of Palos Grandes and the upper-class area of Altamira.
Both of those neighbourhoods have again been affected by Wednesday's quake, with Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello telling state TV that "buildings have collapsed there".
Like this time, in 1967 residents also reported feeling twin shocks.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) says high casualties and extensive damage are probable in Venezuela after back-to-back earthquakes rattled the capital and surrounding regions on Wednesday evening.
"The disaster is likely widespread" and aftershocks with potentially strong shaking may follow, the USGS says.
There's a 44% chance of more than 10,000 fatalities, a 30% chance of more than 100,000, according to the agency. And there's also a significant risk of landslides and liquefaction on the ground.
Liquefaction is a phenomenon that afflicts loose sediments in an earthquake and is akin to a lateral landslide.
