Earthquakes Devastate Region, Rescue Efforts Underway

After two powerful earthquakes, rescue teams from around the globe are in a race against time to pull survivors from the rubble.

In a city north of Venezuela's capital, weak voices call out from beneath collapsed buildings.

The region is a disaster zone, after two earthquakes measuring magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 hit less than a minute apart on Wednesday night, local time.

The death toll has risen to at least 235, with tens of thousands potentially missing.

"I've been left alone in this life," said Omar Reyes as he walked through the rubble where two of his children were buried.

He told the Associated Press that about 20 family members died in the disaster.

For some, time ran out before help could arrive to pull them from beneath the debris.

Others are still trapped, and volunteers dig with their bare hands to find them.

"We don't have any tools. We have no way to help."

Nazareth Jimenez sobbed into the shoulder of a loved one as she watched neighbours try to cut through slabs of concrete with hammers and power tools.

"My God, how are we going to get them out of there?" she murmured, wracked with anxiety as she waited to see if her siblings, nephews, nieces and friends would emerge from the debris alive.

Children arrive alone at hospitals, some with identification details taped to their arms.

At least eight hospitals have reportedly been badly damaged.

Those who made it out have gathered with their salvaged belongings in field hospitals, campsites and sports stadiums.

Many were at home when the quakes struck, including Maria Alejandra, a Caracas resident who did not give her surname.

"When we went downstairs, the scene was like a horror movie," she told Reuters.

Buildings cracked, crumbled, and tilted precariously, with powerful aftershocks continuing the following day.

The US Geological Survey's predictive modelling indicates the death toll will likely rise into the thousands.

Searches are continuing long into the night. In many areas, phone and power coverage have been wiped out.

But offers to help have poured in from around the world.

United Nations-certified rescuers, specialists from Spain and France, and German military transport planes are on their way.

The United States said it was deploying two warships, transport planes and helicopters, along with $US150 million ($217 million) in aid.