The number of victims of the Venezuelan earthquake has increased to 188 people.

The ruins of buildings due to the earthquake in Venezuela. (Twitter/@XHNews)

JAKARTA - The number of deaths and injuries due to the massive earthquake that hit Venezuela continues to increase, while efforts to rescue residents trapped in the ruins of buildings continue.

Buildings cracked and collapsed, and residents fled into the streets after the earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey measured at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, hit northern Venezuela within a minute on Wednesday evening local time.

Offers of assistance and rescue support flooded in when National Assembly head Jorge Rodriguez said the death toll had risen to 188, with 1,520 people injured, Al Arabiya reported from AFP. (26/6).

Strong aftershocks were still felt on Thursday.

La Guaira state north of Caracas was the hardest hit, and residents stumbled among the rubble calling out the names of their loved ones or trying in vain to save the wounded.

"There was a place where a young woman named Jennifer, from the 11th floor, answered me. However, we didn't have any tools; we didn't have a way to help," said Antonio Bermudez, whose building collapsed in La Guaira.

Elsewhere in the rubble, a father and son used picks and shovels to pry open a large slab to reach their other two sons, Bermudez said.

"They are still alive, there is nothing more we can do. We told them not to force their voices, to breathe short-short, in the hope that at least three of those there would be saved."

AFP journalists witnessed residents looting local supermarkets.

Meanwhile, in the coastal city of La Guaira, which experienced a power outage, many residents spent the night on the streets or looking for their relatives.

"We are grateful to God that we are still alive, but there are people suffering right now with family members trapped under the rubble or crushed, unable to be removed," resident Yilsmaris Blanco told AFP.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez visited La Guaira on Thursday after the area was declared a "disaster zone."

Meanwhile, UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply saddened" by the disaster as the global body pledged to help Venezuela.

The strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela in 126 years will require "a massive collective effort," U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

Offers of support have poured in from countries around the world, with Switzerland, Spain, France, Portugal and Mexico among those sending specialists and rescue teams to Venezuela.

China, India, Brazil, and even war-torn Iran have also offered assistance, while Pope Leo XIV has sent an initial aid of 100,000 euros to the country.

It is known that the northern coast of Venezuela is located on the border between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but has not experienced a significant earthquake since 1997, when 73 people were killed.

Another earthquake in 1967 killed 236 people.

The 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday was the strongest since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude quake shook off the coast.

The quake was felt across Colombia, where residents in Bogota evacuated buildings as a precaution.

Tremors were also reported in several cities in northern Brazil, according to the country's seismic monitoring network.