Venezuela Earthquake Destruction Revealed in New Satellite Images

Satellite Technology Is being used to streamline rescue efforts in Venezuela following the two earthquakes that struck on June 24. Space agencies have shared images with emergency authorities and the Venezuelan government that not only reveal the magnitude of the disaster but also allow response teams to identify where to focus their efforts—and the challenges on the ground.

Following the twin earthquakes in Venezuela, the Copernicus satellite system activated its emergency mapping mode at the request of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. Using imagery collected by Sentinel satellites and sensors, the system has generated 10 products and 25 maps that enable real-time assessment of the extent of damage and how terrain has shifted in 13 areas of interest. In addition, these tools have helped officials identify clear areas that can be used for landing aircraft involved in rescue operations and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Initial data from Copernicus shows severe damage in the cities of La Guaira and Greater Caracas, as well as impacts on communities in Aragua, Carabobo, Falcón, and Miranda. The report notes that, as of June 27, an estimated nearly 1,300 buildings have been affected in the region.

For its part, NASA activated its Disaster Response Coordination System to produce a series of maps that show how the earthquakes displaced the Earth’s surface using data obtained by the NISAR mission, “providing key insights for emergency managers and scientists,” according to the agency.

This initiative includes a pilot project aligned with Copernicus’s efforts that, using radar images captured by the Sentinel-1 satellite before and after the earthquakes, assesses the areas previously identified by the European system.

Preliminary results from the mapping model reported damage or total destruction to 58,870 buildings in areas near the epicenter of the earthquakes. Each structure identified on the map includes additional information, such as the probability of damage and the coverage fraction—an indicator showing what percentage of the building was analyzed by the satellite. To reduce errors, the system was calibrated using seismic intensity maps produced by the US Geological Survey to ensure a false alarm rate of less than 1 percent.

You can access these tools here.

Latin American countries are also providing satellite data, including Peru’s National Commission for Aerospace Research and Development. The agency said it made images obtained by the PeruSAT-1 satellite available to the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE) to assist with the emergency response.

PeruSAT-1 was launched in 2016 and is nearing the end of its operational life. Orbiting at an altitude of approximately 702 kilometers (436 miles), it has a sub-1-meter resolution and has captured around 500,000 images used in disaster management, monitoring public works, and detecting illicit activities.

ABAE shared data that reveals ground deformation associated with movement along the San Sebastián Fault—one of the most significant tectonic features in northern Venezuela and one that's linked to the recent earthquakes recorded in the country.

The agency explained that this representation allows for the visualization of abrupt changes on both sides of the fault, showing where the displacement caused by the earthquakes was concentrated. That data will be particularly useful to scientists aiming to understand the pair of tremors.

Recovery is still ongoing in Venezuela, though hopes of finding more survivors is dwindling as times goes on. The long-term impacts are also just beginning to come into focus. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) preliminarily estimate of “direct physical damage” sits at $6.7 billion, an amount equivalent to about 6 percent of the country’s gross GDP.

This estimate was obtained through a satellite assessment conducted using an AI-powered UNDP tool that combines satellite imagery with GIS technology to provide an almost rapid overview of damage and the most vulnerable populations during a crisis.