Strong earthquakes struck west of Venezuela's capital just seconds apart, bringing down buildings in Caracas.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake and a 7.5-magnitude were less than a minute apart, said the U.S. Geological Survey. The second earthquake was the largest to hit the country since 1900.

Back-to-back powerful earthquakes have hammered Venezuela, collapsing buildings in the capital of Caracas. The U.S.