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DORAL, Fla. — <\/span>Venezuelans in the U.S. rushed to organize donation drives Thursday after devastating earthquakes<\/a> that officials say killed at least 188 people and injured hundreds more in their home country. The United States government and other countries also pledged aid.<\/p>\n Oscar Torres and thousands of others spent the last 24 hours keeping up with a flurry of messages posted to a WhatsApp group that connects people in Venezuela<\/a> with their families. He lives in Doral, Florida, a city outside Miami that’s home to the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S. <\/p>\n \u201cAlready this morning, I was looking at the group in Doral and everybody\u2019s pitching in \u2014 money, medicine, water. First, necessity items,\u201d said Torres, a sales manager who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela in 1995. \u201cThey\u2019re talking about making the first shipment ASA<\/p>\n In Washington, the Trump administration said it\u2019s sending $150 million to support relief efforts by aid groups and the United Nations, according to a U.S. State Department news release.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the U.S. government was mobilizing a disaster response team to Venezuela that includes two urban search and rescue teams from fire departments in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles. The U.S. military, which seized Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro in a surprise January drug arrest, will provide aircraft to help assess damage, assist searches and deliver aid.<\/p>\n Other countries including Mexico and Colombia also promised assistance.<\/p>\n The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes<\/a> Wednesday night caused severe damage to the country\u2019s main airport in the capital of Caracas, which could hamper efforts to get aid into the country quickly. The quakes were among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century.<\/p>\n In photos and videos of the aftermath<\/a>, injured children, animals and civilians are seen covered in dust and blood being pulled out of concrete rubble<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to those killed and injured, thousands more were reported missing \u2014 leaving many families members in the U.S. scrambling for updates. More than 770,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S., with large communities settling in Texas and Utah, in addition to Florida.<\/p>\n In the Houston area, home to a large Venezuelan community, residents used community Facebook groups and other social media to spread the word about local donation sites. First aid and medical supplies such as gauze, bandages, antiseptics, disposable gloves, face masks, syringes, thermometers and blood pressure monitors all were in demand. <\/p>\n Local resident Daniel Arenas translated a Spanish-language post into English and shared it Thursday on his LinkedIn page hoping people across Houston would step up and donate. <\/p>\n \u201cI came to this country 10 years ago, built a life here, but my heart is still in Venezuela,\u201d Arenas said. \u201cIt\u2019s devastating what\u2019s happening over there. They don\u2019t have the resources to handle this.\u201d<\/p>\n Arenas, a maritime industry consultant, said that his wife is concerned about her aunt, who lives in a high-rise apartment in Caracas and sent a distraught message on WhatsApp after the quakes hit. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cShe was crying and screaming and saying she was in pain but not sure from where,\u201d Arenas said. \u201cShe said she lost everything. She was desperate.\u201d<\/p>\n Arenas said his wife was later able to reach her aunt. <\/p>\n