Powerful back-to-back earthquakes strike Venezuela, collapsing buildings in Caracas

Two major earthquakes shook the Venezuelan capital of Caracas seconds apart - with the first a magnitude of 7.2 and the second 7.5.

Buildings have collapsed as residents poured out into the streets, and the interior minister has asked people to leave their homes.

High casualties and extensive damage are probable, with the US Geological Survey (USGS) saying there is a 44% chance that fatalities will exceed 10,000.

Venezuela was celebrating a national holiday and many people would have been at home when the quakes struck at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST).

The quakes hit the area of Montalbán, west of Caracas, and could be felt as far away as Bogota, Colombia.

A tsunami warning was issued for Venezuela, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands by the US Tsunami Warning System but has now been cancelled.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) says high casualties and extensive damage are probable in Venezuela after back-to-back earthquakes rattled the capital and surrounding regions on Wednesday evening.

"The disaster is likely widespread" and aftershocks with potentially strong shaking may follow, the USGS says.

There's a 44% chance of more than 10,000 fatalities, a 30% chance of more than 100,000, according to the agency. And there's also a significant risk of landslides and liquefaction on the ground.

Liquefaction is a phenomenon that afflicts loose sediments in an earthquake and is akin to a lateral landslide. (Source: BBC News)