Venezuela’s deadly history of earthquakes — and how they affected its politics
Two devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela within seconds of each other on the evening of June 24, reportedly affecting several of the country’s States and bringing
Two devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela within seconds of each other on the evening of June 24, reportedly affecting several of the country’s States and bringing entire buildings down in the capital Caracas. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the first quake of 7.1 magnitude had its epicentre off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast and the second, which struck only a minute later, had magnitude 7.5. “People evacuated swaying buildings in Caracas and remained outside, many visibly shocked as they saw entire walls that had collapsed, making furniture visible from the street,” Associated Pressreported. War of Independence Northern Venezuela straddles a strike-slip plate boundary between the Caribbean plate and the South American plate. Strike-slip means the two plates are moving sideways relative to each other, rather than one plate diving and other rising. However, such boundaries can still generate powerful earthquakes. In Venezuela specifically, such quakes are due to the San Sebastián fault (which runs offshore near Caracas), the El Pilar fault (across northeast Venezuela), and the Boconó fault (through the Venezuelan Andes). None of these faults slide continuously; instead, they accumulate strain over time and then suddenly rupture. Through history, this geological system has been responsible for many major earthquakes. Perhaps the most (in)famous is the 1812 earthquake in Caracas, with an estimated magnitude of 7.5-7.7.
It devastated Caracas and many other cities during Venezuela’s War of Independence between the Spanish royalist forces and the republic. The disaster disabled the republican capital as an administrative and logistical hub and disrupted military coordination at some important moments, giving the royalists the upper hand for a short period while also quickening the collapse of the already fragile revolutionary state. The royalist clergy also portrayed the quake as divine punishment for the republicans’ rebellion against Spain, but Simón Bolívar, who was leading the revolt, rejected that in an early example of secular political reasoning. Cause for change After 1812, the 1900 earthquake struck along the same plate boundary and severely damaged buildings in Caracas and nearby regions, and remains one of the quakes best documented by instruments in the country. Sixty-seven years later a magnitude-6.5 earthquake again struck Caracas, and several high-rise buildings were damaged or collapsed altogether and more than 200 people died. Pertinently, the quake also marked a turning point in the way the Venezuelan state anticipated and responded to such hazards. The government strengthened building codes, revised its seismic design standards, enhanced systematic reviews of structural designs, and gave engineering bodies and technical standards institutions more teeth. The next major event was the 1997 Cariaco earthquake, which killed dozens of people and produced visible ruptures on the surface ground due to stress released from the El Pilar fault.
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