We can bring you these latest pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake in La Guaira, a coastal area where more than 100 buildings have collapsed. Local residents and rescue workers have been searching for people who could still be under the rubble.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

That's a question I asked two experts today.

Ilan Kelman, professor of disasters and health at University College London, says Caracas "does have a building code" with "modern seismic provisions in it". But enforcement is a "roll of the dice", in his view.

He says some of the collapses we are seeing suggest provisions were not always taken.

He references social and political challenges in Venezuela, saying these can make it "difficult" for laws to be monitored and enforced.

Seismic design expert América Bendito, who is Venezuelan and has previously advised organisations including Unesco, says building codes are "only one part of the safety system". They also need to be "consistently implemented".

"Whether that happened in this case is something that post-earthquake investigations will determine," she says.

But she adds that important lessons were learned after the 1967 Caracas earthquake, calling it a "watershed moment".

For example, she says engineers working on modern buildings today "use much more rigorous detailing of reinforced concrete so that beams and columns can deform without failing suddenly".

Image source, América Bendito

We can bring you more information from remarks by President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez.

He says two hundred and fifty buildings have been damaged or lost, primarily in La Guaira.

Speaking on national television, he says Venezuela faces "severe disruption" after two earthquakes struck last night.

The twin earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude have been followed by 138 aftershocks, he adds.

He says national unity is a priority as the rescue effort continues, and confirms the arrival of specialist rescue teams from the US, Mexico, Spain, Qatar, and the UN.

He also says measures from acting President Delcy Rodríguez include a request for private companies to provide machinery to remove debris, the creation of a $200m fund for assistance, and special credit lines for affected businesses.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

We still don't have firm details on what US assistance to Venezuela will look like, but the US military's Southern Command - which has responsibility for Latin America - has said that its forces are "moving quickly" to support the Venezuelan government.

In a post on X, the command said it established an operational planning team which includes specialists in disaster relief, and is working with regional partners who have also pledged to join the international assistance mission underway in the country.

"Our forces are prepared to move quickly, bringing the unmatched airlift, logistics, and operational capabilities of the US military to help save lives and support the Government of Venezuela during this crisis," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a separate post.

Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US military would be handling American aid flights to Venezuela due to damage sustained by Caracas' airport.

We have yet to hear directly from President Trump so far today.

The death toll from two devastating earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to at least 188 people, in addition to 1,520 people injured and 200 still trapped, the president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, says, according to Reuters, AFP and local media.

At least 2,927 families have lost their homes in the destruction, Rodriguez says.

Twenty-year-old Antoan Marín, who lives in the San Agustín neighborhood in Caracas, tells BBC Mundo he felt like his house was going to "split in two", and feared he might die.

He says he lives in a neighbourhood where most of the houses are "makeshift" and a significant proportion "don't meet seismic standards".

Luckily, his house remained intact, he adds.

A professor from his university lives in a building that has "completely collapsed" - rescuers are trying to help but so far his professor remains trapped, he says.

Volunteers and emergency services are "insufficient" given the scale of the destruction, he adds.

Image source, Antoan Marín

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Like Myanmar last year and Haiti in 2010, Venezuela is not well equipped to cope with a disaster of this magnitude. Decades of corruption and economic mismanagement have degraded the state’s ability to take care of the most basic functions, let alone something like this.

It’s a huge test for the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez. Her populist former boss, Nicolas Maduro, will be watching events from a prison cell in Brooklyn, where he faces American charges of drug trafficking. Ms Rodriguez has already addressed the nation, declaring a state of emergency and offering her sympathies.

Offers of assistance have been coming in from all over the world. Here, the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said Britain was working with partners to help with the global response. But all eyes will be on the Trump administration. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said disaster response teams would soon be on the way, but that there were challenges.

Since America’s military intervention in January, Venezuela has become a kind of vassal state, with Washington exerting enormous control over the country’s vital oil industry. Members of the US Congress have complained about a lack of transparency over how Venezuela’s oil revenues are being managed, as well as the absence of moves towards a democratic transition.

This disaster isn’t just a test for Delcy Rodriguez, it’s a test for Washington too, in a part of the world where Donald Trump says America is in charge.

More than 36,000 people have been reported as missing on a website called Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela, translated as people missing in the Venezuela earthquake.

Of the 36,386 people reported as missing, 2,316 have since been reported as having been located.

However, it's important to consider that these figures may not be accurate, given that they rely on people actively reporting loved ones as missing and then confirming whether or not they have since been found safe.

Residents living in La Guaira, one of the worst hit areas of Venezuela, have described how they have been left desperately searching for relatives.

"I just want to know where my son is," says Dayana Delgado. She says the area's governor had said machinery was going to be sent to the area but that still has not arrived.

Meanwhile Cristian Carreño describes how he has "lost everything". His apartment, car and motorcycle have all been destroyed.

He explains how a building with four apartments collapsed completely burying one flat.

"Everything on the ground floor was buried," he says, adding: "I imagine there are people trapped inside who couldn't get out."

You can hear more from Delgado and Carreño in the video below.

The below images show scenes in Catia La Mar, a port city in the La Guaira area, which as we've been reporting has been particularly badly affected by these earthquakes.

Image source, EPA

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The mayor of the Chacao municipality - one of the political subdivisions of the capital, Caracas - says 23 people have been rescued from the rubble in the area.

In a video update shared on social media, Gustavo Duque says emergency services are currently working to rescue another four.

Among them is a 19-year-old woman Duque says is "between the slabs and is in communication with our team and we are going to rescue her".

He says a large number of the people already rescued don't have their IDs and are being asked to identify themselves in hospital if they are conscious.

Photographs of unconscious patients are being shared with other residents of collapsed buildings in a bid to identify them, he says.

Earlier, Duque had said at least 11 people are known to have died in the municipality.

Image source, Reuters

A survivor of the Venezuela earthquakes has described to the Reuters news agency his experience of being rescued after four hours in his collapsed home.

Erick Paul Martínez Santos, 52, says: "I was in my building for four hours until I was rescued by someone from civil defence or I'm not sure."

"They didn't have many tools. They couldn't find the chisel, the drill, the grinder, they went at it with their nails. I also helped because they passed me a tool," he says.

Video captures moment people flee collapsing building on outskirts of Caracaspublished at 16:09 BST

16:09 BST

By Will Dare and Tom Gould

Warning: This post contains distressing footage

We have verified a video capturing the moment a building collapsed in the small town of El Junquito, on the outskirts of Venezuela’s capital Caracas.

In the footage, several bystanders can be seen running for cover and a group of at least four people shield one another as they are engulfed with dust from the collapsing three-storey building.

The man filming then turns the camera round and films himself escaping down the road into a crowd of people watching nearby.

We were able to confirm the location using street view pictures which show various shops along the streets of El Junquito that match the video.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

President Trump and other administration officials have vowed to help Venezuela - a process helped along by warmer relations between the two countries following the US capture of Nicolas Maduro in early January.

Since then, Trump has repeatedly signalled a willingness to work with interim president Delcy Rodriguez, on whom he frequently lavishes praise.

So far, we have very little information on what that US assistance will look like. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier said that US-based search and rescue teams are being deployed. He added that aid flights will be handled by the defence departent, due to damage to Caracas' main airport.

The Pentagon, however, tells me they have no information to provide at this time. Similarly, the White House and State Department has yet to provide any information on what assistance might be coming, and how much.

Representatives of Venezuela-focused organisations in South Florida - the heart of the country's diaspora in the US - tell me they're working on ramping up assistance from their communities, but so far have no further details.

Maduro, for his part, is currently in a federal detention facility in New York awaiting trial.

In a statement posted on X - presumably by members of his team - Maduro called for "maximum solidarity" and "maximum action" in response to the earthquake.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Image source, Leander Pérez

I've been speaking to Leander Pérez, who lives in the Santa Rosalía parish in central Caracas. His home was badly damaged in the earthquake so he slept on the street last night.

During the earthquakes he and his mother and his neighbours were trapped in the building for a while, as one of the security gates was bent and it wouldn't open, but they eventually kicked it open, he says.

"We spent the night in a public square. On the pavement. Most of the neighbours slept in the streets. We are in deep shock," he says, "I have friends with missing relatives".

He says his apartment block is "uninhabitable".

"All the walls cracked during the earthquake and we had to evacuate the building," he tells me.

"You cannot live there. It is not safe."

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

It is now mid-morning in Venezuela, which last night was hit by two powerful earthquakes.

What happened

The 7.2-magnitude and 7.5-magnitude quakes hit less than a minute apart at around 18:00 local time (23:00 BST) - the second was the strongest to hit the country since 1900.

Both were very shallow at less than 30km below ground, potentially adding to the damage. Footage shows the moment the earthquake shook a BBC journalist's home in Caracas.

The damage

At least 164 people have been killed and 971 injured, according to acting president Delcy Rodríguez.

These tolls could increase significantly as rescue efforts continue, with the US Geological Survey putting the potential loss of life at more than 10,000 - here's a closer look at its estimates and how they are calculated.

The most affected state is La Guaira, north of Caracas, where "dozens" of buildings have collapsed, according to Rodríguez. Before-and-after pictures show a 10-storey hotel reduced to rubble.

The rescue effort

Footage shows rescuers searching devastated buildings in the capital Caracas, and people have been heard calling for help, BBC News Mundo reports.

Several countries have offered support, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the US response would be "big", "fast" and "effective".

Image source, Reuters

More than 100 buildings have collapsed in La Guaira, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said.

The update adds that acting President Delcy Rodríguez has given permission for all UN urban search and rescue teams to be deployed to offer logistics and other support to other incoming teams.

It says that international teams will focus on La Guaira and Caracas as a focus area, while all other areas of Venezuela are being handled by civil protection and local teams.

Rodríguez said in an update earlier that "dozens" of buildings had collapsed in La Guaira, describing it as the country's most affected state and calling it a "disaster zone".

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Many residents spent the night in the streets or searching for their families in Catia La Mar in La Guaira state, believed to be one of the hardest hit regions of Venezuela. They've been speaking to news agency AFP.

"Right now we have nothing, not even the strength or the courage to go in there," Larry Rojas, 49, says as he stands in front of a collapsed building where his family are trapped.

"There are people alive in there and no one is coming to save them," a woman says as she awaits news of her daughter who was buried in the rubble of a 12-storey building.

In the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Odalis Escalona, 54, describes how "the stairs came away, the whole wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling".

Carmen Guedez, 69, who lives in a hilly neighbourhood above Caracas, says her windows began to move during the earthquakes. She says she "huddled together" with her bedridden sister and a neighbour, adding "we couldn't get out".

The north of Venezuela has been heavily affected after two earthquakes in short succession yesterday evening.

The Latin American country has been under much turmoil in recent months, after the US seized left-wing leader Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to stand trial.

Venezuela has since been governed by Maduro's ally and former vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez. Learn more about the country through our guide:

A journalist in Caracas has described seeing "desperation" from people on the streets of the capital following the earthquakes, describing it as "very much chaos".

Manu Quintero tells BBC News that it felt like "the world was moving for a long time" when the earthquakes struck, adding that the two quakes felt like "one massive long earthquake".

He was speaking from the site of a collapsed 14-storey residential building, which he says contained 27 apartments, adding that rescue teams had so far found two bodies and no survivors.

The journalist says: "I saw many injured people yesterday, mostly elderly people because for them it's harder to react in a situation like that, so they are the most vulnerable of all of them."