Earthquakes in Venezuela: Live Map & the Boconó Fault

Venezuela sits along the complex boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, which grind past each other in a mostly strike-slip motion running roughly east-west across the northern part of the country. The Boconó Fault, a major transform structure running through the Andes and central Venezuela, is the country's most significant seismic source, capable of producing large, shallow and highly destructive earthquakes.

Venezuela's earthquake history includes some of Latin America's most notorious disasters. The 26 March 1812 earthquake devastated Caracas, Mérida and Barquisimeto during the war of independence, killing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people and becoming deeply woven into the country's national history. More recently, the 29 July 1967 Caracas earthquake (magnitude 6.5) killed around 240 people and destroyed several high-rise buildings in the capital, exposing weaknesses in mid-20th-century construction that reshaped Venezuelan building codes.

Caracas remains the country's greatest point of exposure: a densely populated valley ringed by mountains, with many buildings constructed before modern seismic codes were enforced. FUNVISIS, the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research, operates the national monitoring network and has mapped the Boconó, San Sebastián and El Pilar fault systems that run through the country's most populated regions. The live map below shows recent seismic activity across Venezuela and the southern Caribbean.