Venezuela has been struck by powerful back-to-back earthquakes, levelling buildings in the capital, Caracas, and prompting fears of mass casualties. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck near San Felipe, about 284km (176 miles) west of Caracas, at 22:04 GMT on Wednesday, followed almost immediately by a magnitude 7.5 quake near Yumare, about 293km (182 miles) west of the capital, the US Geological Survey said.

Venezuela has been struck by powerful back-to-back earthquakes, levelling buildings in the capital, Caracas, and prompting fears of mass casualties.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck near San Felipe, about 284km (176 miles) west of Caracas, at 22:04 GMT on Wednesday, followed almost immediately by a magnitude 7.5 quake near Yumare, about 293km (182 miles) west of the capital, the US Geological Survey said.

The US science agency said that high casualties and extensive damage were “probable”.

Footage posted on social media by Wilmer Azuaje, an elected representative for Barinas State, showed falling debris and people running for cover at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas.

“The stairs came away, the whole wall cracked,” the AFP news agency quoted Odalis Escalona, a 54-year-old bank employee in Caracas, as saying. “Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible.”

More to come…