July 18, 1986 Earthquake: Churuguara, Falcon, Lara, Venezuela

Name: July 18, 1986 Earthquake: Churuguara, Falcon, Lara, Venezuela
Start: 1986-07-18
Location: Churuguara, Falcon, Lara, Venezuela

July 18, 1986 · M4.9 · 1 death · 30 houses destroyed

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck Churuguara, Falcon, Lara, Venezuela on July 18, 1986 at 17:22:38 UTC, 7 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: July 18, 1986
Time: 17:22:38 UTC
Place: Churuguara, Falcon, Lara, Venezuela
Magnitude: 4.9 (Ms)
Magnitude scales: Ms 4.9 · mb 5.9
Focal depth: 7 km (4 mi)
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 10.770° N, 69.428° W
Country: Venezuela
Region: South America
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)
Houses destroyed: 30

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

One person died from a heart attack and about 30 homes damaged in the Churuguara area. Felt in Falcon, Lara, Carabobo, Zulia, Aragua and Miranda. Depth from broadband displacement seismograms. CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 13S, 30C Centroid Location: Origin Time 17:22:43.8 0.6 Lat 10.84N 0.06 Lon 69.24W 0.07 Dep 15.0 FIX Half-duration 1.9 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**24 D-CM Mrr=1.60 0.06 Mtt=-1.11 0.07 Mff=-0.49 0.09 Mrt=-0.09 0.22 Mrf=-0.40 0.20 Mtf=-1.01 0.06 Principal Axes: (T) Val=1.68 Plg=78 Azm=78 (N) Val=0.21 Plg=11 Azm=232 (P) Val=-1.88 Plg=5 Azm=323 Best Double Couple:Mo=1.8*10**24 NP1:Strike=64 Dip=41 Slip=106 NP2:Strike=223 Dip=51 Slip=76

From the USGS event page for usp0002w52. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Magnitude estimates

The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.5	Mw, moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.44	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.4	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

One person died from a heart attock and

about 30 homes damaged In the Churuguara area. Felt in

Falcon. Lara. Carababo. Zullo. Aragua and Miranda. (reference #1053)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
#1232 International Seismological Centre (1964-1990). Regional Catalogue of Earthquakes, 1964-1990, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1986 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1986 Recent earthquakes near here This day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 5104. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp0002w52, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.