Coseismic 3D surface deformation and slip distribution of the M7.5 Venezuela Earthquake doublet revealed by NISAR and ALOS-2 InSAR data
Rubi M. Garcia-GonzalezSubmitted August 30, 2026, SCEC Contribution #15532, 2026 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #055
On June 24, an earthquake sequence, comprising an M7.2 foreshock followed 32 seconds later by the M7.5 mainshock, struck the coastal region of Venezuela. With only a single operational Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) station in the epicentral region, satellite remote sensing offered a crucial capability for resolving near-field coseismic deformation. In this work, we utilize L-band (24.5 cm) radar data from the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission and the JAXA Advanced Land Observing Satellite -2 (ALOS-2) data to recover the 3D coseismic ground displacement. We also highlight the importance of NISAR data because of data coverage and the ability to correct for ionosphere errors, using the dual frequency of NISAR L-band data. Furthermore, the phase gradient of the wrapped phase shows the fault rupture expression of the Bocono Fault (~39 km inland from the coast) as well as the surface rupture of San Sebastian Fault along the most damaged coastal cities (Playa Grande, La Guaira and Caraballeda, https://topex.ucsd.edu/VNZ_7.5/index.html). We inverted the unwrapped displacement field to the slip distribution along the Bocono and San Sebastian Faults. Early results show two slip asperities separated by a no-slip region. The first asperity starts from the M7.2 hypocenter and propagates eastward. A second asperity to the east has maximum slip coinciding with a region of high fringe density where the most damaged coastal cities are, explaining why the level of infrastructure damage and human devastation was greater than other fault rupture segments.
Key Words
venezuela, earthquake, insar, nisar
Citation
Garcia-Gonzalez, R. M. (2026, 08). Coseismic 3D surface deformation and slip distribution of the M7.5 Venezuela Earthquake doublet revealed by NISAR and ALOS-2 InSAR data. Poster Presentation at 2026 SCEC Annual Meeting.
Related Projects & Working Groups
Tectonic Geodesy
