CARACAS, June 26 -- The shaking in La Guaira arrived in two waves, thirty-nine seconds apart. The first, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Venezuela's northern coast on Wednesday evening, was severe enough to begin collapsing the city's older buildings and send thousands of residents running for exits. The second was larger. The 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit before most of those people had cleared their doorways, and the structures the first quake had weakened finished falling.

By Friday, the confirmed death toll stood at 235, according to Venezuela's Health Minister Carlos Alvarado. More than 4,300 people had been injured, and officials cautioned that the figure was expected to climb. CBS News reported that the United States Geologi...