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."

Earlier, BBC Verify analysed footage showing the collapse of Hotel Eduard's in La Guaira state, which once stood 10 storeys tall.

Before and after pictures give a sense of the damage, with the building now reduced to rubble.

Image source, Reuters

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he has spoken to Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez and explains US response to the earthquakes in Venezuela will be "big, it'll be fast, and it'll be effective".

Speaking to the media, he says the US is already deploying search and rescue teams from Virginia and Los Angeles, adding that Venezuela will need a lot of help searching collapsed buildings.

He says the airport in the Venezuelan capital Caracas has been damaged and explains one of its runways has been cracked.

Germany is ready to deploy six military aircraft to help with relief efforts and Switzerland will send 80 rescuers, eight rescue dogs and 18 tonnes of equipment.

The Netherlands has also said it will allocate €2m (£1.7m) to send a rescue team to Venezuela. Spain and France have also offered to send rescue workers.

China and India say they are ready to help Venezuela.

Image source, Getty Images

As search and rescue operations continue in Venezuela, the names of people yet to be located are circulating online.

People's names, photos and addresses are being shared, asking if anyone has seen them or has any information.

Separately, the Central University of Venezuela has released a list of students who are missing following the earthquakes, with many living in La Guaira, according to local reports.

Venezuelan newspaper El Carabobeño has published the names of 39 students who are reportedly missing from the university.

Venezuelan beauty queen Mística Núñez, a popular figure in Venezuela after being crowned Miss World Venezuela, has shared more than a dozen stories on her platform of people who are trapped or missing.

Image source, Reuters

Internet users in Venezuela have regained access to X following the two earthquakes that struck the country last night, BBC News Mundo reports.

The platform had been censored in the country by a state order in August 2024.

Accounts on the social media site specialising in avoiding censorship report the block as being lifted by internet and phone operators CANTV, Thundernet, Digitel and Movistar.

The government has not officially commented on the reports of users being able to access to X.

Earlier, the UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela called for the country’s telecommunications regulator to "fully unblock access to social media and all media outlets" so people could gain information.

Mark Poynting
Climate and science reporter

Venezuela was hit by a “doublet” sequence of earthquakes, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). This is where two earthquakes of a similar magnitude strike shortly after one another in a similar place.

In this case, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake was followed by a larger 7.5-magnitude quake just 38 seconds later.

The USGS says this suggests "a complex, rupture-interaction process" - effectively where one earthquake helps to trigger another one nearby.

This is different to the typical sequence of earthquakes, where a larger earthquake is followed by much smaller aftershocks.

Having two large earthquakes so close together in time is particularly unusual, but doublets aren’t unprecedented in this part of the world.

Northern Venezuela was also hit by a doublet in September 2025, according to the USGS.

The quakes were much weaker, at 6.2 and 6.3-magnitude, but still caused at least one death and more than 100 injuries, it says.

The Turkey-Syria earthquakes of February 2023, which killed more than 55,000 people, were also a doublet sequence.

Dramatic footage shows man descending devastated high-rise buildingpublished at 13:27 BST

13:27 BST

By Tom Gould

We have verified footage of a man filming while walking down the shattered stairway of a residential building in the coastal town of Caraballeda in Venezuela’s La Guaira state, seemingly recorded moments after the back-to-back earthquakes struck.

The extent of the damage becomes increasingly severe as he descends. His video shows holes in the side of the building and corridors covered in rubble on the lower floors.

We have confirmed the location where the video was filmed using satellite imagery and the video’s recency by carrying out a reverse image search of screenshots, to establish when it was first shared online.

These checks are important following incidents like this, as we have seen viral videos circulating on social media which are from older earthquakes in different countries.

It's just past 08:00 in Venezuela and more pictures are emerging showing the aftermath of yesterday's back-to-back earthquakes as the sun rises.

Some people can be seen leaving heavily damaged buildings carrying what appear to be personal belongings. Others are just sitting, observing the devastating scenes of rubble around them.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Daniel Gonzalez Cappa

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, acting President Delcy Rodríguez has declared the state of La Guaira a "disaster zone". Images and videos circulating on social media show collapsed buildings and devastation.

La Guaira is one of Venezuela's smallest states, but an economically important one. Situated along the central northern coast, on the Caribbean Sea, just a few miles north of Caracas, it is a popular destination for visitors from the capital.

The state is also home to one of the country's two main ports and to Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela's main airport.

The images coming out of the area today a reminder of another catastrophe that struck in December 1999, when torrential rains triggered a series of landslides. The death toll back then was in the thousands.

La Guaira never fully recovered from those landslides. Even today, the enormous rocks that destroyed buildings are still there.

Image source, Getty Images

Both the Red Cross and the United Nations have mobilised assistance for Venezuela following the earthquakes.

The Red Cross says that "full human impact" of the Venezuelan earthquakes is not yet known, adding that its Venezuelan branch is "operational and responding".

In a statement online, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says the "most urgent anticipated needs" are search and rescue as well emergency shelter and health care.

The federation adds safe water and sanitation, alongside essential household items, are expected to be priorities in the days ahead.

Tom Fletcher, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, says in an update a rapid response team was being prepared to support its existing team in Venezuela.

He adds that the disaster "risks deepening existing vulnerabilities", saying eight million people were already in need of humanitarian support in the country before the earthquakes, and urges a "massive collective effort" to support the government-led response.

We can bring you some more information now from Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez.

Speaking on the state-run television channel Venezolana de Televisión, Rodríguez says there have been 30 aftershocks following the two earthquakes.

She confirms that 164 people have been registered as killed by the earthquakes, with 971 injured.

Rodríguez adds that a fund of $200m (£152m) has been created from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to aid the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and homes.

Image source, Getty Images