Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after strong back-to-back earthquakes and nearly two dozen aftershocks shook the country, collapsing buildings in capital Caracas and elsewhere.
Rodriguez, appearing on state television flanked by her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, said she extended her condolences to the families of those killed, but she gave no death toll or number of injured.
Simon Bolivar Airport in Maiquetia, near Caracas, is closed because of damage, she added.