Jorge Pérez
BBC News Mundo

Image source, Getty Images

I am chatting with several people I know in Venezuela who have missing relatives in La Guaira, the most affected area after the twin earthquakes.

They know the buildings where their relatives lived have collapsed, and despite their best efforts, they cannot get any information. Phones are going unanswered. And official information for them feels virtually non-existent.

One of them told me she finally found her aunt, who had left her apartment to walk her dog minutes before it collapsed. Both her aunt and the pet have lost their home, but they are unharmed.

Another person I have been chatting with - who lives in Europe - told me yesterday they had two close relatives trapped in the rubble in a neighbourhood also close to the coast.

They were trying to do what they could from miles away, and across a five-hour time difference. People in the area told them they heard voices from the rubble. They thought it was one of their relatives.

This morning I woke up to her message confirming that both of her relatives were found, but they did not survive.

Why is there earthquake damage so far from the epicentre?published at 13:25 BST

13:25 BST

By Thomas Copeland

BBC Verify has consulted seismologists to understand why satellite imagery and social media videos show such significant damage to cities along Venezuela's coast, some more than 100 miles away from the earthquakes' epicentre.

"Instead of imagining an earthquake as a point, it's like a line on the map. It'll start at that epicentral region and then extend," says Dr Laura Gregory, an associate professor of earthquake geology at the University of Leeds.

This is because earthquakes are caused by movements of fault lines, the geological term for fractures in the earth’s crust.

These movements, Gregory says, are called ruptures and the "closer that you are to that earthquake rupture, the worse the shaking is going to be".

Scientists say preliminary data indicates these earthquakes caused ruptures in the San Sebastián Fault, which extends from the epicentre of these quakes along Venezuela's coast.

"These earthquakes were large, so we'd expect the length of the fault that ruptured to be between 100km and 200km long," according to Dr Amy Gilligan, a lecturer in geophysics at the University of Aberdeen.

Geology can play a role too, Gilligan adds, with places built on soft sediments like sand likely to experience "more shaking than if you're on hard bedrock like granite".

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

A Dutch rescue team has departed Eindhoven Air Base for Venezuela to assist with recovery efforts.

The team is made up of 65 rescue workers and eight dogs, according to the European Press Agency.

A team from El Salvador has also arrived in the country, alongside rescue personnel from Mexico and Switzerland.

Earlier, the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that this disaster "needs an international global response and we'll co-ordinate that and we will deliver".

"I want people to know in Venezuela that help is coming," he said.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Leopoldo Lopez, a Venezuelan opposition leader currently living in exile in Spain, tells the BBC News channel the devastation has been "huge" and people are in "shock".

"Unfortunately, we are seeing a parallel collapse of the infrastructure, and also the incapacity of the state to provide timely rescue support for the people in the devastated areas," he says, describing the country as a "failed state".

He says there is an "absence" of firefighters, civil protection and "timely rescue missions", but says "fortunately there is an opening to international support".

He says there has not yet been a "massive deployment" of the Venezuelan military, but says there has been "tremendous support by the civil society in Venezuela".

"It's also very important to point out the importance of opening the news," he says. "Venezuela has been under a severe blockade... X has been opened, but there are still many, many news portals that are closed."

Earthquake is devastating blow to Venezuela at time of uncertaintypublished at 12:36 BST

12:36 BST

Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor

Image source, Getty Images

There is no doubt that this natural disaster is a devastating blow to a country already mired in uncertainty.

It has been less than six months since Nicolás Maduro, the left-wing leader who had ruled the country since 2013, was seized by US forces in a dawn raid on his presidential compound in the capital, Caracas, and taken to New York to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges.

Venezuela has since been governed by Maduro's ally and former vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, much to the chagrin of opposition supporters who had hoped the Trump administration would put opposition leader María Corina Machado in charge.

Rodríguez's response to the quake has revealed some of the things which have - and have not - changed since the January raid, as well as the many challenges facing the country's battered infrastructure.

Read Vanessa Buschschlüter's full analysis piece here.

The BBC has spoken to a man who was on a family outing to the coastal city of La Guaira when the earthquakes struck.

He tells Radio 4's Today programme he and his family felt "incredibly strong" tremors as they were getting into their car to go back to Caracas. "And the earth started to shake."

“Many roads were closed, with a lot of rubble on them,” he says, describing "truly a chaotic scene" as they travelled back to the capital.

"There were no first responders anywhere to be seen. All the neighbours were just trying to get their loved ones out of the rubble and calling them, and it was very grim."

He says mobile phone communications went down and he couldn't get hold of his extended family: "I didn't know if my parents were alive or whatever because I could not get hold of them, either my sister and my nephews."

He explains that six hours later he was relieved to discover his loved ones in Caracas were safe, saying he feels "super lucky".

He adds that in the capital: "I was gladly surprised how well people were actually helping each other and doing what first responders were supposed to do."

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Eighty rescue workers and 18 tonnes of supplies have arrived from Switzerland, according to Venezuela's state broadcaster.

They arrived in the early hours of Friday morning, and the team also includes eight search dogs, reports Venezolana de Televisión.

It adds that Switzerland was "one of the first" countries to offer an emergency response after the earthquakes.

Rescue personnel with supplies have also arrived from Mexico, according to Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

US Southern Command said earlier that one of its senior military officials had arrived to oversee its support efforts.

Foreign nationals are among those confirmed to have died, although as with much of the information coming out of the country since Wednesday's earthquakes, we still do not know the full picture - and search efforts are continuing.

The Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, says the number of Spanish nationals confirmed dead has risen to three, and 99 are now missing.

A Brazilian man and a Brazilian woman have died, according to the country's foreign ministry.

Chinese state media cites the Chinese embassy in Caracas as saying last night that two Chinese nationals had been confirmed dead.

An Italian-Venezuelan has been confirmed dead, Italian media reports, citing the foreign ministry, which adds there is a large Italian community in Venezuela and it is "very difficult" at this time to estimate how many are missing.

Nine Portuguese nationals have died, the AFP news agency reports, citing the country's foreign ministry.

A spokesperson for the International Search and Rescue Dog Organisation (IRO) tells the BBC that six teams of dogs and handlers are heading to Venezuela to help find survivors.

Nicola Puchelt explains that the first 72 hours of an operation are crucial but insists there is "always hope" of finding people alive after several days.

She explains that two dogs are used in each search, the first barks to signal that a person is in the rubble; a second dog will then be sent to confirm the finding before the site is excavated.

Puchelt pays tribute to the highly trained dogs and their handlers who she says need "very strong physical and emotional strength".

Guy Hedgecoe
Reporting from Madrid

Spain’s foreign ministry has confirmed two Spanish nationals have died in the earthquake, while another 80 are missing.

According to Spanish media, citing family sources, one of the victims with Spanish nationality is Alazne Solabarrieta Lecea, a 65-year-old who was born in Caracas.

Her grandfather was José María Solabarrieta, the mayor of the Basque town of Ondarroa during Spain’s Second Republic and who later went into exile in Venezuela, Spanish media reports.

Her husband, Luis María Olalde Quintela, described by Spanish media as a former member of the Basque separatist group ETA who fled to Venezuela in the late 1970s, is reportedly recovering in hospital after being injured in the earthquake.

He is named in the Civil Guard’s database as someone the judiciary is attempting to bring to justice.

The Spanish authorities have set up telephone help lines in Spain and Venezuela for its nationals who are looking for loved ones.

Spain has sent a military aircraft to Venezuela with personnel who will help with rescue efforts.

The Spanish foreign ministry told the BBC it could not at this time confirm the identities of those killed.

Satellite photos show scale of damage in La Guairapublished at 10:43 BST

10:43 BST

By Emma Pengelly

New satellite photos reveal the extent of the damage to La Guaira, more than 100 miles (160km) from the epicentres of the devastating double earthquakes.

The images were captured by the US spatial intelligence firm Vantor and show some of the worst-hit parts of the port city just north of Venezuela’s capital Caracas.

One photo shows a cluster of six buildings flattened, most of them were high-rise apartment complexes with outdoor pools. Some of the surrounding roads have become blocked with debris and collapsed buildings.

Another image also shows how multi-storey blocks which once overlooked the Caribbean Sea have been reduced to rubble.

It's currently 05:20 in Caracas and not yet light.

Rescue teams have continued their searches through the night. You can see some of the latest pictures below.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The 7.2-magnitude and 7.5-magnitude quakes hit less than a minute apart at around 18:00 local time (23:00 BST) on Wednesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The second was the strongest earthquake to hit the country since 1900.

The so-called doublet sequence of earthquakes is different to the typical scenario, where a larger quake is followed by much smaller aftershocks.

Both were very shallow at less than 30km below ground, potentially adding to the damage. We have seen footage of the moment the earthquake shook a BBC journalist's home in Caracas.

An earthquake occurs when two parts of the Earth suddenly move past each other, which releases a lot of energy. When this energy reaches the surface it causes the ground to shake.

The closer it is to the surface, typically the more shaking and potential damage.

Read more explainer posts:

How is earthquake magnitude measured?

A brief guide to aftershocks

What is a 'doublet' earthquake?

What causes an earthquake?

Image source, SOUTHCOM

US Southern Command (Southcom), which oversees US forces activity in South America, says Major General Kevin Jarrard has arrived in Caracas to oversee the Department of Defence's support for relief efforts.

In a post on social media, it says it will help "support the rapid, life-saving movement of response personnel, equipment, and humanitarian assistance into affected areas".

The US set out more details yesterday about how it plans to support Venezuela after the earthquakes.

Graciela Mora was conscious as she was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira by emergency workers and volunteers.

"When the earthquake started, I clung as tightly as I could to the doorframe," she says, "so tightly that I broke my finger."

She was rescued with injuries, including a broken finger, but a friend she was with at the time died.

She told the Associated Press that she held her friend's hand while waiting to be rescued so she would not have to die alone.

Speaking to camera moments after her rescue, and while still on a stretcher, she says she held onto the doorframe "until all the floors collapsed".

"And then I saw her hand like that and grabbed it," she says.

Watch the full clip below. Warning: it contains distressing content.

We've just reported on a doctor who has travelled from Caracas to La Guaira who describes the healthcare system there as being "completely overwhelmed" after the quakes.

Last night, another Venezuelan doctor, Pedro Javier Fernandez, a member of the medical group Medicos Unidos Venezuela, told the BBC the challenging economic and humanitarian circumstances in the country that preceded the earthquakes makes it even harder to respond.

"The problem is not only this is a natural tragedy, but we have to realise and we have to remember that Venezuela is in the context of a humanitarian, complex emergency," he says.

"All our hospitals lack supplies, lack medicines, we are not able to provide medical attention to our people in a normal day. Now with this tragedy, the emergency is even bigger and it's more difficult to face than in other countries."

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Franklin Rodriguez has travelled to the region of La Guaira - which has been badly affected by the quakes - from the capital Caracas where he usually works.

He tells Radio 4's Today programme that he and his fellow medics are facing a desperate situation.

Dr Rodriguez describes the system as being in complete collapse with the two main hospitals in the state "completely overwhelmed".

He says: "There is a critical lack of medicine and medical supplies. Medical facilities do not have the capacity to handle the massive volume of people, and many people are still trapped under the rubble."

People in Venezuela have spoken to the BBC about the intensity of the quakes that hit on Wednesday evening:

Juan, a medical student in Caracas told us he has "multiple friends from my university who are missing".

Twenty-year-old Antoan Marín, who lives in the San Agustín neighborhood in Caracas, told BBC Mundo he felt like his house was going to "split in two", and feared he might die.

Manu Quintero, a journalist in Caracas, said that "the world was moving for a long time" when the earthquakes struck, adding that the two quakes felt like "one massive long earthquake".

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Wednesday, 18:04 local time (23:04 BST): An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude strikes in the north of Venezuela.

About 39 seconds later: A second earthquake with a 7.5-magnitude strikes, 28km south-east of Yumare, a town in the Yaracuy state. This was the strongest to hit the country since 1900.

A few hours later: Footage emerges of people fleeing through the halls of Maiquetía airport as debris falls in La Guaira state, which closes shortly after. The mayor of Chacao, Gustavo Duque Saez, says 18 people had been rescued alive and more than 500 emergency workers were in Chacao trying to pull out more residents.

23:45 local time (04:45 BST): US President Donald Trump says "two major earthquakes...have left a devastating number of deaths," adding: "Early reports are not good!!!"

Thursday, around 00:50 local time (05:50 BST): Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, reports at least 32 deaths, and more than 700 injured. She says this figure does not include any figures from the state most affected by the earthquakes, La Guaira. These figures are updated through the day.

Throughout Thursday: As rescuers and the army were mobilised to clear debris, aid groups around the world scrambled to deliver help to Venezuela, with the US pledging $150m in assistance.