{"id":496599,"date":"2026-06-26T13:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496599\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T13:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:10:19","slug":"how-did-venezuelas-deadly-doublet-earthquakes-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496599\/","title":{"rendered":"How did Venezuela’s deadly ‘doublet’ earthquakes happen?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela\u2019s northern coast, killing at least 235 people<\/a>, were an event known as a \u201cdoublet”. <\/p>\n

Doublet earthquakes happen when a pair of similar-sized quakes hit close in location and time, according to the US Geological Survey. On Wednesday evening (local time), a 7.2 magnitude quake hit first, followed by a magnitude 7.5 just 39 seconds later.<\/p>\n

The deadly one-two punch toppled buildings in Venezuela\u2019s capital, Caracas and beyond. Some 4300 people were injured and thousands were reported missing. The coastal region of La Guaira, which is north of Caracas, experienced some of the heaviest damage and casualties, officials said.<\/p>\n

How rare are doublets?<\/p>\n

While not as common as a typical earthquake where a main shock is followed by much smaller aftershocks, doublets can happen anywhere in the world, Christine Goulet, director of the USGS earthquake science centre in California, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Doublets indicate a complex fault structure, like the one in Venezuela. Known as the Bocono fault, it runs along the backbone of the Venezuelan Andes for about 500km. <\/p>\n

A previous doublet \u2014 of magnitudes 6.2 and 6.3 \u2014 struck an area west of Caracas in September 2025, killing at least one person and injuring more than 100 others. Most of the damage was reported in the states of Zulia and Lara.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A firefighter rescues a dog from a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

What caused the double earthquake?<\/p>\n

Most earthquakes occur along plate boundaries, which is where tectonic plates meet.<\/p>\n

A rupture where the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates meet unleashed the two quakes this week.<\/p>\n

The doublet occurred where the Caribbean plate, located north of Venezuela, moves eastward relative to the South American plate at an average rate of 2cm a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a large displacement,\u201d Goulet noted. \u201cIt\u2019s on the order of the San Andreas fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake was followed by a stronger 7.5 tremor, damaging buildings in the Venezuelan capital (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

The movement was a shallow strike-slip faulting, which occurs when two blocks of rock slide past one another horizontally.<\/p>\n

That kind of movement is not more dangerous by default, Goulet said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA more vertical motion can be more damaging,\u201d she said, adding that other factors, including the length of the rupture, determine the amount of damage.<\/p>\n

The boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates is less active than others, said David Naar, associate dean at the University of South Florida\u2019s College of Marine Science.<\/p>\n

\"Neighbors<\/p>\n

Neighbors carry a man rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building the day after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

How common are earthquakes in Venezuela?<\/p>\n

In the past century, only seven earthquakes of magnitude 6 and higher have hit in the immediate vicinity of the most recent ones, according to USGS.<\/p>\n

These include the 2025 doublet that struck west-northwest of the latest quakes.<\/p>\n

Individual earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher struck in 2009, 1989 and 1975. The most devastating one hit in July 1967. It was a 6.6 magnitude quake that killed hundreds of people.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Vitriago, who lives in Caracas, remembers that one. He was 2 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur house broke,\u201d he recalled in an interview with state-owned TV station Venezolana de Televisi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

Vitriago said the doublet that hit Wednesday \u201cwas horrible, horrible”. <\/p>\n

Overall, five earthquakes of magnitude 7 and higher have occurred in northern Venezuela or near the coast since 1900, according to USGS.<\/p>\n

The most catastrophic earthquake occurred in March 1812 along the Bocono fault system, killing an estimated 30,000 people.<\/p>\n

Will more earthquakes hit Venezuela?<\/p>\n

Scientists cannot predict earthquakes, but aftershocks are common after big ones. The USGS said there\u2019s a 99% chance of at least one magnitude 4 aftershock hitting Venezuela within the next week, and a 24% chance of a magnitude 6 one occurring.<\/p>\n

Unlike other countries, Venezuela does not have an early earthquake warning system, which relies on sensors to detect the first waves of an earthquake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very distressing that there was basically no time to evacuate,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s extremely unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela\u2019s northern coast, killing at least 235 people, were an event known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[28708,8215,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-496599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-central-south-america","tag-earthquakes","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}