WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) —  The United States (US) said Friday it was sending a disaster response team of more than 250 personnel, including three special search-and-rescue units, to locate survivors in earthquake-hit Venezuela.

The three special units are made of firefighters, physicians, paramedics, structural engineers and canine search specialists with a total of 18 dogs trained to locate people trapped in rubble from the powerful twin quakes that hit Wednesday, a US State Department statement said.

The teams, dispatched from Miami, Los Angeles and Fairfax County, west of Washington DC, were en route and will work with local emergency responders in the aftermath of the quakes, which killed at least 920 people.

Together, the personnel will bring more than 200,000 pounds of special search-and-rescue equipment, the statement said.

The US said Thursday it was deploying two warships, transport planes and helicopters and mobilizing $150 million in aid to Venezuela.

Earlier Friday, US Marine Corps Major General Kevin Jarrard arrived in the capital, Caracas, to oversee Department of Defence relief efforts in support of the State Department, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said.