The Bolivarian Government carried out a satellite evaluation on the tectonic dynamics of the earthquakes of June 24

The Minister of Popular Power for Science and Technology, Gabriela Jiménez, reported that the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities is continuing the analysis of satellite images to specify the tectonic origin of the earthquakes recorded on June 24, in compliance with the instructions issued by the president in charge Delcy Rodríguez and stated that “our teams are maintaining the technical evaluation to determine exactly the mechanisms that generated these events.”

Through his Telegram channel, he indicated that the studies confirm that the movements of magnitude 7.1 and 7.5 originated from the interaction between the Caribbean Plate and the South American Plate, since this tectonic boundary operates under a dextral shear regime along the Boconó—San Sebastián—El Pilar fault system, which causes an accumulation of efforts during interseismic periods.

Jiménez pointed out that the rupture in the Veroes municipality, Yaracuy state, responded to the sudden release of energy accumulated in the San Sebastian Fault and that this heading failure mechanism allowed regional transpressive deformation to be accommodated, which resulted in a cortical dislocation reflected in the magnitude of the earthquakes.

The minister indicated that the seismic activity reached several states, including Yaracuy, Miranda and the Capital District, and that this behavior evidences the dynamics of a region where the interaction of plates favors surface ruptures capable of altering topography in short periods and leaving identifiable geological traces on the ground.

Jiménez explained that the validation of the process was obtained using synthetic aperture radar interferometry, a technique that allowed the measurement of seismic deformation with high precision and which showed a shift in the line of sight between -0.06 m and 1.33 m, confirming the rearrangement of the cortical blocks after the rupture.

He also highlighted that the chromatic discontinuity observed on the San Sebastian Fault constitutes geophysical evidence of a large scale tectonic movement, since the recorded pattern demonstrates elastic deformation and relative displacement of the blocks located on both sides of the structure and noted that “satellite information makes it possible to clearly identify the dynamics of the cortical blocks after the event”.

The minister added that, although there are technical limitations associated with areas with debris and the LOS projection, satellite information confirms that the municipality of Veroes was a node for the release of tectonic energy where the kinematics of the plates produced a direct and irreversible morphological alteration of the Earth's surface.