Rescuers in Venezuela are racing against time to find survivors amid devastation wrought by two powerful back-to-back earthquakes.
Emergency workers have already pulled dozens of people alive from the rubble, including two injured toddlers in the state of La Guaira. Their mother remains missing, according to local television reports.
The two quakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 struck on Wednesday at around 6:04 pm (2204 GMT), just 39 seconds apart, about 170 kilometres west of the capital Caracas, according to US Geological Survey (USGS) data.
Television footage showed relatives and neighbours applauding as people were brought out from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
At least 164 people died in the quakes and nearly 1,000 were injured, according to a government tally, though the death toll is expected to rise as many people are still missing.
At least 42 multi-storey buildings collapsed In La Guaira, on the Caribbean coast, according to TV channel Globovisión, and some 10 more in Caracas.
Many people are feared trapped under rubble amid the widespread destruction in La Guaira, which is home to Venezuela's main international airport and principal seaport.
Excavators needed for rescues
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez called on the private sector to hire out the excavators urgently needed by the government for rescue operations. Search and rescue teams from abroad are heading to Venezuela to help locate people buried beneath the rubble, she said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is helping to facilitate the deployment of the international rescue teams, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.
"Our team in Venezuela is working closely with the authorities to set priorities," Fletcher said.
Efforts are under way to assess what assistance is required as a matter of urgency. Even before the earthquakes, almost 8 million people in Venezuela depended on humanitarian aid.
The 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the strongest to hit the country since 1900, the USGS said.
