LA GUAIRA/CARACAS/MORON, June 25 (Reuters) – Hundreds of people in Venezuela were trapped under rubble and many more still unaccounted for on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in ​and around the capital Caracas, setting off powerful aftershocks and leaving thousands homeless.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday evening, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, the strongest ‌in more than a century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The disaster struck a country already grappling with years of economic turmoil that had left much of its infrastructure fragile, complicating rescue efforts and posing a crucial test for the country’s interim government, which welcomed promises of aid from across the international community.