Image Library
ALOS-2 observations of earthquakes in Venezuela
Summary
- On June 25, 2026 (Japan Standard Time), two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 occurred in succession west of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, causing severe damage, including the collapse of numerous buildings.
- In response to a request from the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, JAXA conducted emergency observations using ALOS-2 beginning on June 30 and provided the data to relevant organizations.
- Analyses by JAXA and other relevant organizations detected significant crustal deformation associated with the earthquakes over a broad area extending more than 140 km, from around the epicentral region to western Caracas.
- ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 ScanSAR data are open to the public for free. Please click here.
Introduction
At around 7:04 on June 25, 2026 (Japan Standard Time; hereinafter all times are in JST), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 (estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)*1) occurred west of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Thirty-nine seconds later, a second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 (USGS) occurred in succession. In response to a request from the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, an international framework for sharing Earth observation satellite imagery in the event of disasters, JAXA conducted emergency observations using the Synthetic Aperture Radar “PALSAR-2” onboard “DAICHI-2” (ALOS-2) and provided the data to relevant organizations. Figure 1 shows the observation area, and Table 1 provides details of the observation data.
| Observation Time (JST) | Satellite | Path number | Observation Mode | Beam Number | Orbit, observation direction | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | June 30, 1:23 | ALOS-2 | 135 | ScanSAR | W2 | Descending, right |
| (2) | June 30, 13:39 | ALOS-2 | 40 | ScanSAR | W2 | Ascending, right |
Analysis examples by JAXA
1) Observation result on June 30, 1:23
Figure 2 shows a differential interferometric image*3 using observation data acquired on June 16, 2026 (before the earthquakes) and June 30, 2026 (after the earthquakes). In this observation, microwaves were emitted from approximately eastern side to western direction. In the image, color changes from blue to pink to yellow indicate that the ground surface moved away from the satellite (westward or subsidence), while color changes from blue to yellow to pink indicate movement toward the satellite (eastward or uplift). Although phase changes caused by the ionosphere have been corrected in this analysis, color changes affecting the entire image may represent phase changes other than crustal deformation.
Figure 3 is a crustal deformation map derived from the unwrapped interferometric image. South of the San Sebastián Fault, displacement of up to about 35 cm away from the satellite was detected, while north of the fault, displacement of up to about 25 cm toward the satellite was detected.
2) Observation result on June 30, 13:39
Figure 4 shows an interferometric image generated using observation data acquired on January 14, 2025 (before the earthquakes) and June 30, 2026 (after the earthquakes). In this observation, microwaves were emitted from approximately western side to eastern direction. In the image, color changes from blue to pink to yellow indicate that the ground surface moved away from the satellite (eastward or subsidence), while color changes from blue to yellow to pink indicate movement toward the satellite (westward or uplift). The analysis results include phase changes and noise other than those caused by crustal deformation, and further analysis is required to quantitatively detect the amount of crustal deformation.
JAXA will continue to observe this region.