India, June 26 -- Rescue teams raced Thursday to the areas hardest hit by a pair of powerful earthquakes that rocked Venezuela, killing at least 164 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and trapping many beneath collapsed buildings.

Wednesday evening's 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. The country's main airport was damaged and closed, while buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil's Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

Television broadcasts on Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Panicked residents ...