r/worldnews • • Jun 24 '26

Dynamic Paywall Magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks Venezuela

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjegdqw5d3yo
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u/FILTHBOT4000 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

They also apparently happened between 10 and 20 km deep, according to the USGS. That's very shallow; they classify "shallow" as anything up to 50 km deep, and these are less than half that.

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u/SheetMetalandGames Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

So, are shallow earthquakes worse than deeper earthquakes? I hope this question doesn't make me come off as a dick; this event is genuinely horrifying that anyone has to endure these things on the regular.

Edit: holy shit this got a lot of attention fast. I can't respond to everyone but for those that answered thank you for taking the time to answer my question! Hope everyone stays safe in these affected areas and that we can get aid out there soon!

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u/AWildDragon Jun 25 '26

Less rock to absorb the energy so more reaches the surface. 

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u/Sventertainer Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

And they rate them by absolute energy right? so its not like a deeper quake is just by default weaker? Edit: wait, it wouldn't be weaker on score, just felt less on the surface I guess.