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The United States is "immediately deploying" rescuers and aid to Venezuela after the country was hit by two massive earthquakes that killed at least 32 people, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
"America stands with the Venezuelan people during this difficult time, and at the direction of President Trump, the State Department is immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela," Rubio wrote on X.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier that Washington is ready to assist Venezuela following twin earthquakes that killed at least 32 people and injured over 700 in the country's deadliest seismic event in over a century.
"The two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"The U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help!" he added.
Trump said he had instructed federal agencies to prepare for rapid action.
"I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly," he wrote, adding: "We will be there for our new and great friends."
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, northern Venezuela was rocked by an extraordinary double-seismic sequence on Thursday.
A 7.2-magnitude foreshock first struck near the municipality of San Felipe, the capital of Yaracuy state. Just 40 seconds later, a far more powerful 7.5-magnitude mainshock struck southeast of Yumare.
USGS described the event as "the second event in a doublet," with the magnitude 7.5 mainshock preceded by 39 seconds by the 7.2 foreshock.
The mainshock was the largest earthquake ever recorded in Venezuela and the strongest in the country in more than 125 years.
The first quake's epicenter was located 21 kilometers (13.04 miles) west of the coastal town of Moron, occurring at a depth of 22 kilometers, according to USGS. The second struck about 45 kilometers away at a depth of approximately 10 kilometers.
USGS had initially estimated that the death toll could range anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 people, given the quakes' magnitude and proximity to populated areas.
Addressing the nation early Thursday, Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez gave the first official casualty figures.
"At this time, we have received reports of 32 deaths" and "more than 700 injured," she said, adding that she did not yet have data on the hardest-hit region of La Guaira, near the capital.
Rodriguez said the disaster had been followed by 20 aftershocks.
Rodriguez declared a national state of emergency early Thursday following the quakes, which struck the country's northern Caribbean coast and triggered tsunami warnings and advisories across the region.
Authorities said the states of Trujillo, Carabobo, Miranda, and La Guaira were hardest hit.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist saw a 22-story building completely destroyed in Caracas's Altamira neighborhood, where people called out the names of relatives as volunteers climbed over the rubble.
"We need flashlights," one volunteer said.
Maiquetia International Airport, near Caracas, was closed due to "serious damage" to its infrastructure, Rodriguez said, with social media posts showing extensive damage to its facilities.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello asked residents to leave their homes and said gas supplies had been cut to several buildings as a precaution. "We have some damaged structures, and we don't want any kind of accident involving gas to occur," he said.
Bank employee Odalis Escalona, 54, described the moment the quake struck.
"The stairs came away, the whole wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible," she said.
Shopkeeper Heidi Romero, 42, was on the top floor of a Caracas shopping center when the tremor hit. "It was unbelievable; I don't even know how long it lasted," she said, adding, "We went out through the emergency stairs; that's how they got us out."
Carmen Guedez, 69, was with her bedridden sister in a hillside middle-class neighborhood above the capital. "It kept getting stronger," she said.
"I started to see the windows begin to move and then everything shook," she added.
She said she "huddled together" with her sister and a neighbor, adding, "We couldn't get out. The neighbors are still out on the street."
Internet connectivity fell sharply across Venezuela, including in Caracas, after the earthquakes damaged power and telecommunications infrastructure, internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported on X.
Network data showed a significant decline in connectivity following the twin quakes as authorities continued assessing the damage.
The strongest earthquakes in Venezuela's recent history previously occurred in the northeast in 1997, killing 73 people, and in Caracas in 1967, when 236 people died.
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