Rescuers in Venezuela used power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood after 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck the South American country

Both quakes measured over 7.0 magnitude, with tremors being felt as far as more than a thousand miles away in Brazil’s Amazon region.

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

US Geological Survey estimates 44 per cent chance fatalities could exceed 10,000