Displacement maps from Sentinel-1 ascending track 033, acquired on 2026/06/25

EARTHQUAKE OVERVIEW (Source: USGS):

Dates of Images:

June 24, 2026; June 25, 2026

Summary:

On June 24, 2026, northwestern and central Venezuela was struck by two large strike-slip earthquakes occurring just 39 seconds apart:

• Foreshock: Magnitude 7.2 at 22:04:33 (UTC), located 23 km SE of Yumare, Venezuela

• Mainshock: Magnitude 7.5 at 22:05:11 (UTC), located 28 km SE of Yumare, Venezuela (10.435°N, 68.472°W)

Scientists working with the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology, both in Pasadena, California, created these displacement maps with measurements of surface displacements caused by the earthquake sequence. The maps were derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The team computed the phase difference between a post-event image acquired on June 25, 2026 (reference scene) with a pre-event image acquired on June 18, 2026 (secondary scene), on Sentinel-1 ascending (satellite moving north) track 033.

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measures ground movement toward or away from the satellite. Sentinel-1 views the ground from the side at about 40° from vertical. On ascending passes, it travels slightly west of north (heading ≈ 348° or −12°) and looks to the east. On descending passes, it travels slightly southwest (heading ≈ 192°) and looks to the west. The full dataset covers an area centered on the earthquake epicenter. Each pixel measures approximately 30 meters across.

Suggested Use:

1. Line-of-Sight Displacement (Venezuela_S1_A033_20260618_20260625_UNW.tif): Unwrapped phase data converted to metric displacement along the radar line-of-sight. Positive values (blue) indicate ground movement towards from the satellite (uplift and/or westward motion), while negative values (red) indicate movement away from the satellite (subsidence and/or eastward motion). Units: meters. The dataset has been re-referenced to a stable point at coordinates (-68.5435°, 10.9696°). Areas of low coherence and water bodies have been masked.

2. Wrapped Phase (Venezuela_S1_A033_20260618_20260625_WRP.tif): Wrapped phase map showing relative ground deformation where each "fringe" or complete color cycle represents approximately 2.8 cm of displacement along the line-of-sight (half the Sentinel-1 C-band wavelength of 5.56 cm). The color progression from (outward to inward) red, orange, yellow, green, and blue indicates ground is moving away from the satellite, blue, green,yellow, orange, and red means ground is moving towards the satellite. This visualization is useful for identifying the spatial pattern and magnitude of deformation.

3. Range Offset (Venezuela_S1_A033_20260618_20260625_RNG.tif): Across-track (range direction) pixel offsets measured through amplitude cross-correlation. This represents ground displacement perpendicular to the satellite flight path, predominantly capturing east-west motion. Positive values (blue) indicate westward movement, negative values (red) indicate eastward movement. Units: meters. Water bodies and areas outside the valid data frame have been masked.

4. Interferometric Coherence (Venezuela_S1_A033_20260618_20260625_COH.tif): Measures the similarity of the radar phase between the two SAR acquisitions, indicating the reliability of the interferometric phase used to estimate ground displacement. Values range from 0 (decorrelated, unreliable) to 1 (highly correlated, reliable).

Data Sources and Satellite Specifications:

• Water masking: ESA World Cover 2021 land cover dataset was used to mask permanent water bodies

• Orbit direction: Ascending (A) - satellite moving north

• Track number: 033

• Wavelength: 5.56 cm (C-band)

• Spatial resolution: 30 meters

• Reference point: -68.5435°E, 10.9696°N

• Temporal baseline: 7 days (June 18-25, 2026)

Caveats:

The InSAR ground displacement results posted here are preliminary results, primarily intended to aid field response and provide rapid assessment of earthquake-induced surface deformation. These preliminary products may or may not be suitable for detailed scientific analysis without further validation. This displacement map should be used as guidance to identify areas of significant ground displacement, and may be less reliable over snow-covered and vegetated areas, steep terrain, or regions that experienced surface changes between acquisitions.

The Sentinel-1 data products contain modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by the European Space Agency and analyzed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information about ARIA, visit: http://aria.jpl.nasa.gov

Credits:

Sentinel-1 data were accessed through the Copernicus Open Hub and the Alaska Satellite Facility server. The product contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by the European Space Agency and analyzed by the NASA-JPL/Caltech ARIA and OPERA team. The products are produced as part of the OPERA project, which is funded by NASA to address remote sensing needs identified by the Satellite Needs Working Group, and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Grace Bato, Cole Speed, Eric Fielding

Esri REST Endpoint:

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