Share

GEM Secretary General Helen Crowley and Ana Acevedo of EAFIT University co-chaired a special session on September 15 at the 18th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (ECEE2026) examining early findings from the 2026 Venezuela and Colombia earthquakes. With investigations still underway, the session covered rapid impact assessment, ground-motion analysis, hazard and risk modelling, and virtual and field reconnaissance.

In Venezuela, rupture directivity and proximity to populated areas were central to investigations of severe damage. In Colombia, an intermediate-depth earthquake produced widespread shaking, with local ground conditions contributing to differences across affected cities.

Presentations examined how seismic recordings and local observations could be used to check initial impact estimates. Seismic networks provide evidence of shaking, while exposure and vulnerability data help explain its consequences for buildings and communities. Interpreting these sources together requires care: conditions recorded at one location may not represent an entire neighbourhood.

Reconnaissance presentations examined differences between construction types, older and newer buildings, and structures strengthened using different retrofit strategies. Presenters emphasised the need to consider buildings that withstood the shaking alongside those that were damaged when evaluating vulnerability. 

Virtual reconnaissance complemented field investigations, using publicly available images and videos to locate and document damage. These sources provide additional evidence, but the buildings shown and their reported damage levels still require verification.

Discussions on post-earthquake inspections highlighted that an initial designation of a building as unsafe to enter does not, by itself, determine whether it should be repaired or demolished. Contributions also stressed the importance of recording building characteristics and damage consistently, both for immediate assessments and subsequent analysis. 

The findings remain preliminary. The full session recording includes initial impact assessments, reconnaissance observations and questions requiring further investigation.

Watch the full special session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu3ykUws3VM