Death toll from Venezuelan earthquakes climbs to 235, injuries reach 4,300

CARACAS -- Venezuela's health ministry raised the death toll to at least 235 on Thursday evening after two powerful earthquakes struck the country a day earlier.

The number of injured has climbed to 4,300, Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said in an interview with state television on Thursday.

The twin earthquakes, measuring magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 and striking just 40 seconds apart late Wednesday, were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century and the deadliest in decades.