At least 164 were killed and 971 injured in back-to-back powerful earthquakes in Venezuela, the country's acting President Delcy Rodriguez said Thursday.

Rodriguez said the earthquake had triggered about 30 aftershocks, noting that the government is currently coordinating resources nationwide to strengthen rescue efforts in the hardest-hit areas and has called on the private sector to help procure rescue equipment and supplies.

She expressed hope that improved visibility after daybreak would enable rescue workers to accelerate search-and-rescue operations.

The quakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. Tremors were significantly far-reaching, triggering building evacuations in Brazilian cities, roughly 1,700 kilometers away from Venezuela's capital, Caracas.