The agency issued a red alert on its Pager system, estimating a high likelihood of significant fatalities and infrastructural losses.

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.

Several earthquakes shook Venezuela's capital of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon,witnesses reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey warned that \