Unusually powerful M6.3 Earthquake struck on Wednesday Evening near Mene Grande in Venezuela.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on September 25th, 2025. Last updated November 23rd, 2025.

An unusually powerful M6.3 earthquake struck under land 26 kilometer from Mene Grande in Venezuela just before midnight of Wednesday September 24th, 2025. The USGS has indicated there is a potential risk at tsunami's following this earthquake. Other nearby countries are Colombia and Aruba.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Venezuela, 26 kilometer (16 mi) east-northeast of Mene Grande in Zulia. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 14 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Sep 24, 2025 11:51PM (Caracas Time) - Sep 25, 2025 03:51 Universal Time.
Location:	26 km ENE of Mene Grande, Zulia, Venezuela. Coordinates 9°55'52"N 70°42'18"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 6.3 Detected by 23 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.027 .
Depth:	14 km (9 mi) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	VIII Severe On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Potential tsunami risk The USGS has indicated there is a potential risk at tsunami's following this earthquake. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Potential tsunami risk

There is a potential tsunami risk in the aftermath of this earthquake, immediately evacuate to higher grounds away from coastal areas and monitor advice from local authorities. The US Geographic Survey organization has indicated a potential risk for tsunami's following this earthquake.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Significant impact predicted

The US Geographic Survey (USGS) describes the impact of this earthquake as follows:

The casualties and damage for this event is combined and listed with the M6.2 earthquake that ocurred 5 hours earlier.

Based on scientific estimates by the USGS, the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level YELLOW (significant). They expect an 41% likelyhood of between 10 and 100 fatalities, and a 98% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 1,000.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level YELLOW (significant). They expect an 53% likelyhood of between 10 and 100 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 97% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls between 1 and 1,000 million USD.

Roughly 11 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 11 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is VIII, which corresponds with severe shaking and likely moderate to heavy damage. Roughly 40 people are expected to be exposed to this level. The majority of people (roughly 9 million) live in an area exposed to level IV, where light shaking and likely no damage is expected.

People in 2 countries have been exposed to shaking. In Venezuela , around 11 million people, with impact levels up to VIII (severe shaking, likely moderate to heavy damage). In Colombia, shaking was experienced too.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake struck within proximity of multiple countries. Venezuela , Colombia and Aruba are all within 300km distance of its epicenter.

Mene Grande in Zulia, Venezuela is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 26 kilometer (16 mi) east-northeast of Mene Grande. Mene Grande experienced an earthquake intensity (MMI Scale) of roughly VI. That level implies strong shaking and probably light damage.

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Maracaibo is located 129 km to the northwest and experienced an intensity of V (moderate shaking, very light damage). Barquisimeto is located 148 km to the east and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage). Valencia is located 296 km to the east (intensity unknown, possibly low).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Earthquake Intensity Map

The maximum intensity (MMI Scale) caused by this earthquake is VIII. The map below shows in which areas this earthquake was the most and least impactful. It is based on data from the US Geographic Survey.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Shaking reported by 196 people in 3 countries

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 196 people have reported shaking in 55 places in 3 countries (Colombia, Venezuela, Aruba).We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Chacao, Miranda, Venezuela: 26 people.
• Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela: 21 people.
• Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela: 12 people.
• Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela: 11 people.
• Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela: 10 people.
• Ejido, Mérida, Venezuela: 9 people.
• Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia: 8 people.
• San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela: 8 people.
• Barinas, Barinas, Venezuela: 6 people.
• Valera, Trujillo, Venezuela: 6 people.

5 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 5 smaller aftershocks occurred. Just 3 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-5.3 was detected 9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of this earthquake.

In the days before this main shock, 6 smaller foreshocks were detected. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit 5 hrs earlier nearby.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

This is an unusually powerful earthquake

No earthquake of this strength has struck this region for a long time. Our data goes back 10 years, and no earthquakes measuring a magnitude of 6.3 or higher have been detected within 300 km (186 mi) of this epicenter.

Sources

Last updated 23/11/25 05:48 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000rcqw
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250925_0000045
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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