Two earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela 32 seconds apart: M7.2 near San Felipe, then M7.5 offshore. Europe's emergency mapping service graded the coast within days. In seven urban areas home to four million people, every high-resolution image came back "not produced". This is what we found, and what we did with it.
Copernicus EMS graded damage in central Caracas, along the La Guaira coast and in San Felipe, Morón and Santa Cruz. In seven other areas, every image acquired between 25 and 27 June ended "not produced", citing remote sensing limitations. The activation is now closed. Copernicus EMS has published no damage grading for them.
Valencia, Maracay, Guacara, Puerto Cabello, Villa de Cura, and the Caracas districts of Petare and Antímano.
Planet's Crisis Response release holds 50 cm captures of large parts of four of the areas, taken one to three days after the earthquakes.
13:48 UTC: the emergency service's image, later marked not produced. 14:58 UTC: an open capture of the same neighbourhoods under 10% cloud.
| Area | Emergency service image (UTC) → outcome | Open capture, 50 cm |
|---|---|---|
| Puerto Cabello177,000 in capture | 26 Jun 14:03 and 27 Jun 15:16 → not produced | 26 Jun 11:48 · 21% cloud · two hours before the first image |
| Petare654,000 in capture | 27 Jun 13:48 → not produced | 27 Jun 14:58 · 10% cloud · seventy minutes later |
| Valencia449,000 in capture | 26 Jun 14:04 → not produced | 26 Jun 19:10 · 10% cloud · same day |
| Antímano area, north228,000 in capture | 25 Jun 15:17 → not produced | 26 Jun 15:05 · 11% cloud · next day |
| Maracay, Guacara, Villa de Cura | 25–27 Jun → not produced | No open capture |
Where the sky allowed it, this is what a damage grading becomes: 9,131 buildings rebuilt in 3D, the post-event image on every roof, each one coloured by the grade Copernicus EMS assigned it. Red: destroyed. Amber: damaged.
NASA–ISRO's NISAR radar sees through cloud. We tested its change map building by building against the Copernicus gradings. On this coast, in Caraballeda, it flagged 162 of 285 destroyed buildings. In Morón, 7 of 8 destroyed. In San Felipe, none of 14 damaged buildings.
In the towns that were hit it also flagged about 1 in 11 other buildings, so most flags are not damage. It points where to look. It does not count damage, and a quiet place is not proof that it is safe.
This test covers only the areas Copernicus graded. The radar was not tested in the seven areas without a grading, and this page does not claim it covers them.
A damage map matters only when it ends in a decision. In this 2.6 km window of coast:
Planning figures, not distribution records. Run on the open captures of the seven areas, once buildings are graded, the same steps would reach 1.5 million people.
The full case study: the gap map, the minute-by-minute audit, Catia La Mar in 3D, and how it goes from buildings to people to food. Written in plain language for the person who has to act.
Every analysis starts from a multi-source gather: hazard monitors, satellite imagery, population and food-security data, and our own measurements of shaking, exposure and damage. Ask for one on your next event.
Sources: USGS events us6000t7zc (M7.2) and us6000t7zp (M7.5), PAGER red · Copernicus EMS rapid mapping EMSR884 © European Union: areas, products, statuses, image times and statistics, latest versions · Planet Labs PBC Crisis Response release: capture times and cloud cover from published metadata (imagery not shown) · Kontur population, CC BY · map basemap contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 · 3D: post-event image and damage grades © European Union, Copernicus EMS; pre-event and surrounding imagery: Esri and its providers; buildings © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. People in capture: residents inside each capture's footprint within the EMS area. People in buildings and food figures: Watchfloor estimates. The graded Caracas product does not overlap Petare or Antímano. Radar: NASA–ISRO NISAR, distributed by the Alaska Satellite Facility DAAC; buildings for the radar test: Microsoft Global ML Building Footprints, ODbL; radar flags: Watchfloor measurements.