September 12, 2009 Earthquake: Carabobo, Venezuela

Felt Summary

At least 18 people injured and 17 buildings damaged north of

Moron. Felt (VI) in parts of Carabobo; (V) at Baruta,

Caracas, El Limon, Guarenas, La Victoria, Los Dos

Caminos, Maiquetia, Maracay, Puerto Cabello, San

Antonio de los Altos and Valencia; (IV) at

Barquisimeto, Cagua, Chacao, El Cafetal, El Hatillo,

Guatire, Los Teques and Petare. Felt in much of

northern and central Venezuela. Felt (III) at

Willemstad and (II) at Kralendijk, Netherlands

Antilles. Also felt at Antriol, Groot Piscadera, Hato,

Montana Abou, Ronde Klip and Tera Kora. Felt at

Oranjestad, Aruba and at Bogota, Bucaramanga,

Cartagena, Medellin and Santa Marta, Colombia.

Tectonic Summary

The September 12, 2009 earthquake offshore of Venezuela occurred at a shallow depth as a result of right-lateral strike-slip faulting. The tectonics of this area are dominated by the eastward motion of the Caribbean plate with respect to the South American plate, at a rate of approximately 20mm/yr. Major fault systems in the region include the Boconó fault further to the southwest, and the San Sebastián and El Pilar faults which run from west to east near the earthquake epicenter; these faults accommodate the majority of the motion between the two plates. The location of today's event indicates it may have occurred on the San Sebastián or El Pilar faults, though further analysis of the earthquake is needed.

The region surrounding the September 12th event is known to be seismically active, and has hosted strong earthquakes in the past; previous damaging earthquakes include an M6.5 quake in July 1967 that caused approximately 240 fatalities, and an M5.4 quake in May 1989 which made more than 2000 people homeless in the Tucacas area.

(above from reference #1053)

The magnitude-6.2 earthquake that hit Caracas and other parts of north-central Venezuela amid torrential rains injured 14 people and damaged several buildings, officials said. The injuries occurred near the epicenter, which was located about 28 kilometers (17 miles) north of the town of Moron and some 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Caracas, Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami told Venezolana de Television, or VTV. The people injured in Saturday's earthquake, among them a boy and a young woman who sustained leg injuries, were treated at hospitals and are in good condition, the interior minister said. Seven houses and two hotels sustained damage in the temblor, El Aissami said, adding that officials were evaluating the damage in the areas affected. The earthquake rocked Aragua, Carabobo, Lara, Portuguesa, Zulia and Miranda states, as well as the Caracas metropolitan area, the interior minister said. Emergency services workers are clearing trees and debris left by the torrential rains and hurricane-force winds that hit the capital just before the earthquake struck, the minister said. The magnitude-6.2 earthquake occurred at 3:36 p.m. (2006 GMT), causing panic in Caracas, where people poured into the streets, and cutting off electric and phone service. (reference #5088)