Venezuela earthquakes kill at least 32, with buildings destroyed across Caracas and La Guaira state

 

Back-to-back earthquakes have killed at least 32 people in Venezuela, with at least 700 injured, acting President Delcy Rodríguez says

She says the most affected state is La Guaira, north of Caracas, where “dozens” of buildings have collapsed

In the capital, rescuers are searching through the rubble and people have been heard calling for help

The US Geological Survey says thousands of people could have been killed in total – we take a look at their estimates here

The quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit a minute apart. The second was the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900 – you can see a “shake-map” here

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Venezuela was celebrating a national holiday and many people were at home when the quakes struck at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST)

My sister in Caracas sent me an audio message, writes one BBC journalist. “The house just shook horribly. It’s still shaking” [BBC]