Rescuers are searching through rubble in a rush to save lives after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela near the capital, killing at least 235 people and injuring at least 4,300.
In Caracas and the nearby coastal city of La Guaira, people could be heard calling for help from under the debris of collapsed buildings.
The first 7.2-magnitude quake was followed seconds later by an even stronger 7.5-magnitude one, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with both occurring close to the surface, making destruction more severe.
Many more people are feared dead, with others left homeless or too afraid to stay in damaged, unsafe buildings sleeping in the streets after the disaster.
The earthquakes struck at 18:04 local time (22:04 GMT) on Wednesday – a national holiday in Venezuela, meaning more people would have been at home than on a normal weekday.
Both quakes were shallow – the first centred 20.3km below the surface and the second at a depth of 10km, according to USGS.
Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, reported on Thursday that the death toll had risen, after the country’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency.
Several countries have pledged to help the rescue efforts, with the US promising $150m (£113m) in aid. The US military is sending transport ships and aircraft to support search and rescue teams and “rapid relief operations”, it said in a statement.
Jorge Rodríguez said 250 buildings had been damaged or lost, mostly in La Guaira, where the BBC verified footage of a 10-storey hotel reduced to rubble. On Thursday, people were searching for loved ones there.
Juan Ortiz told the BBC one of his close friends had been confirmed dead, another was believed to be under the rubble, and around 20 people he knew who live in the coastal area were missing.
“I’m in shock and confusion, and frustrated that I can’t help,” the medical student in Caracas said.
Buildings were also brought down in the capital, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said, with Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua and Miranda also affected.
Mayor Gustavo Duque of Chacao, which forms part of the greater metropolitan area of Caracas, said outside one ruined building on Thursday that 11 people had died there and 23 had been rescued.
In a video update posted on social media, he said the team was trying to clear the rubble so that specialists could go in “to reach people who are hopefully still alive”.
