Double Earthquake Kills More Than 900 in Venezuela, Among Strongest in Over a Century

A double earthquake struck Venezuela on June 24, among the most intense in more than a century, killing more than 900 people and collapsing scores of multistory buildings, @AP reported. The back-to-back events ranked among the most intense to hit the country in more than a century, with the death toll expected to rise.

Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab analyzed satellite imagery of Catia La Mar in La Guaira state and determined that about a third of the city’s nearly 30,000 structures were damaged.

Videos and imagery reviewed by @AP showed widespread pancaking of buildings in coastal northern Venezuela. Older housing erected in the 1950s and 1960s before modern earthquake standards, combined with rapid construction during recent oil booms, left many structures vulnerable, experts said. Many buildings sat on soft soils that amplified shaking.

David Cocke, a structural engineer and former president of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, said a combination of soft soils, tall towers and older concrete structures contributed to the damage. “They just don’t have the more modern reinforcing steel connections that we put in those kinds of buildings today,” Cocke said.

Eduardo Miranda, a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering, noted that “soft stories” with open ground floors such as garages increased collapse risk when paired with softer soils.

Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist at the Geological Survey of Brazil, said the doublet sequence compounded destruction by amplifying vibrations. Juan Carlos Vielma, a Venezuelan civil engineer, said more than one recently built structure collapsed despite current standards, calling for a review of engineering processes.