Why earthquakes hit La Guaira so hard, and what must change before rebuilding

Images of buildings reduced to rubble, families trapped under debris, and entire neighborhoods devastated are etched into Venezuela's collective memory following the June 24 earthquakes. The tremors left an unprecedented humanitarian emergency and ignited a scientific debate about why La Guaira suffered such extreme destruction compared to other affected regions.

While the seismic rupture began in Yaracuy state, the most significant energy release occurred off the central coast. This, combined with the area's geological conditions, the vulnerability of many structures, and years of diminished scientific capacity to study seismic risk, created what experts call an exceptional scenario. "It wasn't a single factor. It was the superposition of several phenomena acting at the same time," geophysicist Michael Schmitz of Simón Bolívar and Central University of Venezuela told El Nacional. Schmitz, who previously worked at the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis), cautioned against oversimplifying the tragedy by focusing solely on the earthquake's magnitude.

Schmitz explained the destruction resulted from a "superposition of three phenomena: ground motion far exceeding estimates, amplification produced by certain soil types, and the vulnerability of buildings." He stressed that each element requires detailed investigation before any reconstruction begins. The initial confusion about the epicenter versus the damage location was clarified by the rupture's evolution. The seismic event initiated on two faults, with the rupture extending to the San Sebastián fault off La Guaira's coast, causing a significant displacement of one to two meters. This unleashed the immense energy responsible for the widespread destruction. Schmitz views the events not as two separate earthquakes but as a single, large tectonic process that unfolded along approximately 200 kilometers.