Venezuela Quakes Trigger Up to 2‑Foot Ground Shift, NISAR Shows

In June 2026 two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, a magnitude‑7.2 tremor followed 39 seconds later by a magnitude‑7.5 event. The quakes killed more than 5,000 people, injured over 16,700 and caused widespread destruction in Caracas and La Guaira.

The joint NASA‑ISRO NISAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite captured the disaster within hours, using InSAR technology to map ground deformation. Data showed the earth’s surface moved as much as 60 cm (about two feet), primarily in an east‑west direction, with the greatest shift near the Caracas international airport. This was the first emergency‑response use of NISAR’s rapid‑response system.

The satellite observations helped the U.S. Geological Survey refine fault‑slip models and provided critical information for relief operations across the affected region.