A devastating M7.5 earthquake strikes northern Venezuela

To read this post in Spanish (automatically translated by Google), click here.

Can you help? We work to make seismology accessible to the public, but this effort is supported entirely by readers like you. If you can, please consider supporting our work by upgrading to a paid subscription. If you use our Substack as part of a group, or to teach, consider an educational or enterprise subscription. Every paid subscription makes a real difference – and unlocks access to over three hundred posts in our archive!

A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck northern Venezuela on June 24 (local time 18:04). Preliminary data indicate that the earthquake created a large strike-slip fault parallel to the northern coast of Venezuela. With the maximum shaking reaching MMI VIII-XI intensity (severe to violent), we can expect this event to have serious consequences.

Figure 1: Location of the M7.5 earthquake, with estimated aftershock intensity from the USGS.

Collapsed buildings have already been documented (see footage at the end of this post). We expect it to take days, weeks, or even months to determine the extent of the damage. However, the USGS’s PAGER instrument gives a preliminary look at what to expect, based on shaking and weakening estimates: There will likely be thousands to tens of thousands of deaths, and billions of dollars in damage. The USGS also estimates that shaking could trigger large landslides and liquefaction.

Currently, news reports keep pace with evolving scientific information. The US Geological Survey initially reported a magnitude 7.1 earthquake, and several news agencies reported that number. However, this number was updated shortly afterwards: first, an M7.2 earthquake, then 38 seconds later, an M7.5 earthquake. Let’s be clear: a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in northern Venezuela is already an emergency. An M7.5 earthquake releases about three times as much energy as an M7.2 earthquake.

Although we can be reasonably confident that a magnitude 7.5 (or thereabouts) earthquake will occur, the details of such a rupture should be considered preliminary at this point. Rupture of an M7.2 earthquake typically takes tens of seconds to complete, with the rupture front moving from the epicenter outward along the fault, possibly in two directions. Two large earthquakes one after the other can also be considered as two pulses from a single large rupture, with a total instantaneous release equivalent to ~M7.6.

This type of scenario is very difficult to untangle, because the P and S waves of the second event (or pulse) will appear at seismometers within the shaking signal of the first event, making it difficult to recognize and characterize. Furthermore, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred in Japan just 26 minutes later. We cannot at this time rule out the possibility that the Japan earthquake was caused by seismic waves coming from Venezuela, although this seems highly unlikely: the shaking would have been weak, and an M7.6 earthquake occurred near here in December 2025, so an M6.9 is not very unusual. Whatever the cause of the Japanese earthquake, the seismic waves overlapped again. At the time of this writing, the EMSC has not yet reported a second, larger earthquake.

This type of second, larger earthquake hiding amid the shaking of the first event is not new. For example, a similar situation occurred in August 2021, when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the South Sandwich Islands was followed about two and a half minutes later by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake; Once again, it took some time to identify the second biggest event. In this case, the earthquakes were far from any populated area. The same cannot be said now.

For people in Venezuela, they probably experienced this period as a very long period of shaking. One person wrote to the EMSC: “DURO MUCHO TIEMPO EL SISMO” (“The earthquake lasted a long time”). Another wrote: “Nunca había Sentido un terremoto así” (“I have never felt an earthquake like this”).

In fact, we have a colleague who is in Caracas now (Dr. Frank Audemars), who wrote to us to describe the event. Dr. Audemars is an expert on tectonics in Venezuela (among other things). He writes:

So far, three aftershocks have been felt in the streets of El Lanito (east of Caracas), after the main shock.

My main observations about the main shock in a 2nd floor apartment: I felt P waves vertically twice, lying in bed (watching football). After a silence of 2-4 seconds, the S waves shook us fairly strongly for over 10-12 seconds. On the table, water was settling. From the top shelf of my bookshelves, many of my trophies fell to the floor. It was difficult to stand and walk while the S was shaking. No noise. Dizziness while descending to street level (two levels down).

Serious damage was also reported in Caracas. In areas of influence of thick fine sediments (San Bernardino, Altamira-Palos Grandes urbanization)

Dr. Audemars shared footage and photos of the event, which we have included at the end of this post.

The northern coast of Venezuela is traced by a long right-sided strike-slip fault. West ~67°W, this is known as the Oka-Ankon fault; East of this meridian, the Pilar Fault. At this intersection of the two fault names, there is another fault on the right side extending to the southwest: the Pocono Fault.

Earthquakes occurred at that point.

At this time, all earthquake focal mechanisms point to rupture of the main east-west fault. The eastern and western nodal levels of the earthquake do not correspond to the Pocono fault. The basemap here is from a 2003 publication by Dr. Audemars.

Figure 3: Tectonic map of Venezuela and neighboring countries. East-west strike-slip faults running along northern Venezuela are highlighted in red, and the focal mechanism of the M7.5 earthquake is shown. Map taken from Audemars (2003).

This fault marks the boundary between the Caribbean Plate to the north and the South American Plate to the south. The black arrows are measurements made at GPS stations, showing that the Caribbean plate is moving about 20 mm to the east each year compared to the South American plate.

On the map below, we have plotted the earthquakes and their focus mechanisms from the USGS catalog, labeling those above M7. This earthquake is the largest earthquake ever recorded in this region of Venezuela.

Figure 4: Earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela, colored by depth. Arrows are GPS vectors showing crustal motion; Ellipses are uncertainty. Earthquakes above M7 are described. GPS vectors taken from Kramer et al. (2014).

There are bound to be many aftershocks from this event. Its distribution will determine the rupture area. This is important, because an M7.5 earthquake is usually associated with a rupture about 100-200 km long, with several meters of slip on average. Knowing whether the tear went west, east, or both, and the total length, will help determine areas of damage. We note that the earthquakes started about 170 km west of Caracas, so unilateral eastward rupture could reach that far.

However, the USGS has not yet reported aftershocks, perhaps because they are obscured in the global seismic network due to the strong tremors of the first events. We expect to see aftershocks in earthquake catalogs within hours. The local network will be able to identify events more accurately. Venezuela has a seismic organization that maintains a guide to earthquakes (Fundación Venezolana de Investigaciones Sismológicas), but it appears to be working after several hours of delay. Even with automated algorithms, seismic selections are usually reviewed by someone before publication (yes, even at the USGS!). Furthermore, with the organization based in Caracas, the potential for damage, and certainly power outages, we are unlikely to see more accurate data from them in the near future.

What we have at this point are concrete reports to the USGS. The USGS used these felt reports, along with basic information about the event, to estimate the intensity of shaking. The prototype shows shaking centered around the main shock, with the strongest shaking limited to about 100 km along the fault. This model is based on somewhat fragmented data – seismometer coverage is spotty at best, and even felt reports are very sparse: still less than 200. Note that the PAGER (estimated fatalities and damage) results were developed in parallel with this shaking model, so we can expect that changes in one will affect the other.

If you felt this earthquake, please consider reporting your experience to the USGS. You can also describe the event in your own words and upload footage and photos to EMSC.

Figure 5: Earthquakes (circle and “beachball”); USGS felt reports (boxes) and USGS estimated shaking (profiles).

We last wrote about this part of the world in September 2025, when three earthquakes around M6 struck an area about 200 kilometers to the southwest. We have removed the paywall from this post to allow our readers to continue exploring seismic activity in this area.

People in the area should be aware that aftershocks are expected, and that already damaged buildings pose a particular risk, as further shaking may lead to further collapse. Aftershocks tend to decay all at once—in other words, by day 10, the aftershock rate should drop to 10% of day 1, and by day 100, to 1%. However, large, delayed aftershocks will still be possible for months or even years.

The US Geological Survey has issued its first aftershock forecast. This forecast will be updated over time as earthquakes are recorded. Find the latest forecasts here. Note that there is a small possibility that this earthquake will trigger a larger event. The web page now states: “There is a 4% chance that this earthquake will become a harbinger of a larger earthquake (magnitude 7.2 or greater) in the next week. Such an earthquake is possible but with low probability.” Note that a M7.2 earthquake will not be a larger earthquake; There seems to be some confusion regarding the double event. (Edit, Jun 24, 2026, 11:05 PM EDT: This has been fixed; the probability of M7.5 becoming a harbinger has been revised to 2% over the next week.)

Figure 6: Aftershock forecast for the M7.5 earthquake. To see the latest forecasts, visit the USGS here.

These photos were shared with us by Dr. Audemars, who received them from others, and we reproduce them here. We do not normally focus on damage, but in this case due to the limited information currently available it seems appropriate to document some extent of the damage. Where these were provided, we noted the location.

Complete building collapse in Palos Grandes Orb. (Caracas):

Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetia:

Dean’s Building of the Faculty of Engineering at the Central University of Venezuela. Dr. Audemars points out that the yellow/gray/white wall in the background is the building he works in: geological, chemical and petroleum engineering.

We appreciate Dr. Audemars’ involvement in the midst of the disaster, and we hope that by sharing this information, we will be able to help connect people affected by this disaster with those trying to help.

Audemard M, F.A., 2003. Geomorphological and geological evidence for ongoing uplift and deformation in the Mérida Andes, Venezuela. International Quartet, 101, pp. 43–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(01)00218-9

Bradley, K., Hubbard, J., 2025. M7.6 earthquake strikes off Honshu, Japan. Earthquake Insights, https://doi.org/10.62481/85f72316

Bradley, K., Hubbard, J., 2025. Several large earthquakes hit northwestern Venezuela. Earthquake Insights, https://doi.org/10.62481/8c943b8f

Hubbard, J., 2021, Mixed Seismic Signals in the South Sandwich Islands, Temblor, http://doi.org/10.32858/temblor.202

Kreemer, C., Blewitt, G. and Klein, E.C., 2014. Geodetic plate motion and the global strain rate model. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 15(10), pp. 3849–3889. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GC005407

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos