More than 46,000 feared missing in Venezuela after two major earthquakes
A crowd-sourced website lists more than 46,000 people as unaccounted for.
Thousands of Venezuelans are feared dead and more missing after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around the capital, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
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A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings in Caracas as night fell, while distraught relatives sought help for loved ones feared trapped.
Dazed survivors were taken away, some on stretchers.
"When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie," said Maria Alejandra, a resident from a nearby building, who did not give her surname.
"We had to climb over the rubble and everything. The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbors coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out."
Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said late on Thursday that around 235 dead had been received by medical centres. He did not give a total number of casualties.
Jorge Rodriguez, head of Venezuela's national assembly and brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, said earlier in the day that 200 people had been trapped, with 250 buildings damaged or destroyed.
At least eight hospitals, the headquarters of the Venezuelan Red Cross and the French embassy were among buildings reported to have been badly damaged.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said some 70,000 families in La Guaira state had been affected.
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The worst-affected area was La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city's airport.
Witnesses' footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down in the airport and rubble from destroyed buildings along the seafront.
"Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save," Rodriguez said on state television just before 1 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Thursday.
"La Guaira state is a true tragedy, and has become a disaster zone."
Houses collapsed near the quake's epicenter in Morón, a small seaside town in the state of Carabobo, where there was no water or electricity.
Three children were among at least eight killed in the area, municipal mayor Emily Riera told Reuters.
"It felt like all those houses were collapsing on top of us," said Geilin Morales, 29, who had just left her home with her husband and 6-year-old daughter when the quake destroyed it.
The U.S. Geological Survey, using predictive modeling to estimate the death toll, said it would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000.
Many Venezuelans were at home when the quakes struck during a public holiday.
"There was a very loud crash. Things fell in the house, jugs inside the refrigerator. I've never experienced anything like it," said Coro Martinez, 56, who lives in eastern Caracas.
Rodriguez said rescue crews from other countries would arrive soon and thanked leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She called for unity in Venezuela, where anti-government protests over annual inflation of more than 500% have become more frequent since Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a violent raid in January.
Trump said there had been a "devastating" number of deaths. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said rescue teams were being deployed and the Pentagon would send assets to the damaged airport.
Other cities and towns close to Caracas affected by the quake, including El Junquito and La Guaira, remained without power on Thursday morning, increasing the challenges.
The U.N.'s Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift restrictions on social media, saying it was a "matter of life and death". Access became available in some areas of the country, where cell services are unreliable.