Remote Observations of Surface Deformation for the M7.2 and M7.5 2026 Venezuela Earthquakes

Summary:
This Data Release contains surface deformation measurements resulting from the June 24, 2026, M7.2 and M7.5 Venezuela earthquakes (USGS, 2026). The earthquakes likely ruptured ~175-200 km of the Boconó and San Sebastián faults with right-lateral slip, but minimal discrete surface rupture has been identified to date. These data are based on rapid analysis of available satellite data after the earthquake and may be updated as more information becomes available. The datasets can be viewed interactively at https://apps.usgs.gov/earthquakes/response/venezuela/. These data are being made available in a provisional release to support scientific and humanitarian response to the earthquakes. These datasets are based on remote sensing and have not been ground checked. Details of each dataset are below in “Explanation of Data”.

Disclaimer: These data are preliminary and provisional and are subject to revision. They are being provided to meet the need for timely earthquake response. The data have not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and are provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the data. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Explanation of Data:
Sentinel-1 Range Correlation
Surface displacement fields derived from subpixel correlation of European Space Agency Sentinel-1 Single Look Complex radar images. The images provide surface displacement resolved into the satellite’s line-of-sight in meters, which includes both vertical and horizontal displacements. The images have been masked by signal-to-noise ratio. The images were processed using the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech ISCE2 image processing software (Agram and others, 2013); terrain was corrected using the 30-meter resolution Copernicus GLO-30 digital elevation model. Changes in the sign of displacement (+/-) are caused by differences in the viewing direction of the satellite. Positive displacements indicate motion away from the satellite (increasing line-of-sight distance) and negative displacements indicate motion toward the satellite (decreasing line-of-sight distance). Sentinel-1 and GLO-30 data are available from Copernicus (https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/). Data are provided in WGS84 coordinate reference system.
File names:
- s1_20260618_20260625_p25_rng_masked.tif
- s1_20260618_20260625_p33_rng_masked.tif
- s1_20260623_20260624_p106_rng_masked.tif

Sentinel-1 Unwrapped Interferograms
Unwrapped, co-seismic interferograms that give satellite line-of-sight displacement of the Earth’s surface in meters. The line-of-sight displacements resolve a combination of vertical and horizontal displacements. The images have been masked according to interferometric phase coherence. The images were processed using the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech ISCE2 image processing software (Agram and others, 2013); terrain was corrected using the 30-meter resolution Copernicus GLO-30 digital elevation model. Positive displacements indicate motion away from the satellite (increasing line-of-sight distance) and negative displacements indicate motion toward the satellite (decreasing line-of-sight distance). Sentinel-1 and GLO-30 data are available from Copernicus (https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/). Data are provided in WGS84 coordinate reference system.
File names:
- s1_20260618_20260625_p25_unw_masked.tif
- s1_20260618_20260625_p33_unw_masked.tif
- s1_20260623_20260624_p106_unw_masked.tif

Sentinel-2 Subpixel Correlation
Surface displacement fields, decomposed into north-south and east-west components, derived from subpixel correlation of Sentinel-2 satellite optical imagery band 4 (red). These data show movement of the Earth’s surface in meters in the north-south and east-west directions. North and east are positive, and south and west are negative. This dataset is based on pre-earthquake images from May 5-9, 2026, and post-earthquake images from June 24-29, 2026. The images have been masked based on correlation score. The subpixel correlation was performed with MicMac (Rosu and others, 2015; Rupnik and others, 2017). Sentinel-2 data are available from Copernicus (https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/). Data are provided in WGS84-UTM Zone 19 N coordinate reference system.
File names:
- S2_20260505_20260629_EW_masked.tif
- S2_02260505_20260629_NS_masked.tif

Vantor Optical Image Subpixel Correlation
Surface displacement fields, decomposed into north-south and east-west components, derived from subpixel correlation of WorldView3, WorldView Legion-1, and GeoEye-1 (© Vantor 2026) satellite optical imagery. The correlation results cover four areas along the northern coast at high resolution (0.4 m), from west to east, over Catia La Mar, Carabadella, Naiguatá, and Camurí Grande. These data show movement of the Earth’s surface in meters in the north-south and east-west directions. North and east are positive, and south and west are negative. This dataset is based on pre-earthquake and post-earthquake images as indicated in the title of each file listed below (YYYYMMDD). The satellite images were orthorectified and aligned using Agisoft Metashape, and the subpixel correlation was performed with MicMac (Rosu and others, 2015; Rupnik and others, 2017). Vantor data are available via the Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contract (USG+ license) for the pre-earthquake images and the Vantor Open Data program (https://xpress.maxar.com) for the post-earthquake images. Data are provided in WGS84-UTM Zone 19 N coordinate reference system. The east-west maps are interactively viewable in the WebMap. All other displacement files are available for download in the associated data release.
File names:

WV3_20260405_20260626_NS_CatiaLaMar.tif
WV3_20260405_20260626_EW_CatiaLaMar.tif
WV3_20260405_20260626_NS_Carabadella.tif
WV3_20260405_20260626_EW_Carabadella.tif
WV3_20251227_20260626_NS_Naiguata.tif
WV3_20251227_20260626_EW_Naiguata.tif
WV3toGE1_20251220_20260705_NS_CamuriGrande.tif
WV3toGE1_20251220_20260705_EW_CamuriGrande.tif
Simple Fault
This line feature depicts the near-surface fault trace for both earthquakes combined. On land it is constrained by fault-related topography and Sentinel-1 displacements for the west end of the rupture (file s1_20260623_20260624_p106_unw_masked.tif), and subpixel correlation displacements from Sentinel-2 and Vantor optical images for the east (files S2_20260505_20260629_EW_masked.tif, WV3_20260405_20260626_EW_CatiaLaMar.tif, WV3_20260405_20260626_EW_Carabadella.tif, WV3_20251227_20260626_EW_Naiguata.tif, and WV3toGE1_20251220_20260705_EW_CamuriGrande.tif). Offshore, from Playa Centro to Catia La Mar, it is constrained by Map A of USGS Open-File Report 2000-18 (Audemard and others, 2000) and the Global Earthquake Model Active Faults Database (Styron and Pagani, 2020). The simple trace is representative of localized deformation, but not necessarily discrete surface rupture.
Files:
- simple_fault.geojson
- simple_fault.kml

References:
Agram P. S., Jolivet R., Riel B., Lin Y. N., Simons M., Hetland E., Doin M.‐P., and Lasserre C., 2013, New radar interferometric time series analysis toolbox released: Eos Trans., AGU, v. 94 no. 7, 69–70, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013EO070001.

Audemard, F.A., Machette, M.N, Cox, J.W., Dart, R.L., and Haller, K.M., 2000, Map and Database of Quaternary Fault sin Venezuela and its offshore Regions, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2000-18, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr0018.

European Space Agency, 2024, Copernicus Global Digital Elevation Model: Distributed by OpenTopography, https://doi.org/10.5069/G9028PQB, last accessed 2026-06-30

Rosu, A.-M., Pierrot-Deseilligny, M., Delorme, A., Binet, R., & Klinger, Y., 2015, Measurement of ground displacement from optical satellite image correlation using the free open-source software MicMac: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 100, 48–59, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2014.03.002

Rupnik, E., Daakir, M., & Pierrot Deseilligny, M., 2017, MicMac – a free, open-source solution for photogrammetry: Open Geospatial Data, Software and Standards, vol. 2 no. 1, 14, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40965-017-0027-2

Styron, R., and Pagani, M., 2020, “The GEM Global Active Faults Database.” Earthquake Spectra, vol. 36, no. 1_suppl, pp. 160–180, doi:10.1177/8755293020944182.

The Sentinel-1 observations are Copernicus Sentinel data processed by European Space Agency.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2026, M 7.5 - 28 km SE of Yumare, Venezuela, https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000t7zp/executive, last accessed 2026-06-30.