{
  "abstract": "The devastating 2026 Venezuela earthquake was cataloged as a doublet of \\Mw~7.2 and 7.5 events. Combining NISAR and ALOS-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar data, teleseismic source imaging, and ensemble Kalman inversion of multiple moment tensors and dynamic rupture simulations, we show that the 2026 Venezuela earthquake was instead a single \\Mw~7.6 event with variable rupture speed and seismic moment release. The earthquake rupture went through episodes of acceleration and deceleration, including a pronounced slow-down around the rupture area of the 1967 \\Mw~6.6 Caracas earthquake. Stress transfer from the partially arrested front and a trailing slip pulse enabled the rupture to break through this stress barrier and release ~26% of the seismic moment beneath the coastal cities of Playa Grande and Caraballeda, where damage was most severe. Such fitful ruptures enhance high-frequency seismic radiation and challenge conventional methods for characterization of large earthquakes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Jeremy wing ching wong"
    },
    {
      "name": "Eitan Rapaport Bruck"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rubi Garcia Gonzalez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mathilde Marchandon"
    },
    {
      "name": "Baoning Wu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fabian Kutschera"
    },
    {
      "name": "Molly Zebker"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yohai Magen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wenyuan Fan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yuri Fialko"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alice-Agnes Gabriel"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dq8jshsr08a07.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.31223/x58b9r",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "dq8jshsr08a07",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15594/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Earth Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Geophysics and Seismology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Physical Sciences and Mathematics"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Venezuela earthquake"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "earthquake"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "seismic hazards"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "seismology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1908|earthquake and tectonic studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223021371",
  "pdf_url": "https://eartharxiv.org/repository/object/15594/download/27016/",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-20",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dq8jshsr08a07.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:46Z",
      "native_id": "15594",
      "source": "eartharxiv",
      "url": "https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15594/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "bepress:Geophysics and Seismology",
      "subfield": "geophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fitful but sustained rupture of the 2026 Mw 7.6 Venezuela earthquake",
  "title_text": "Fitful but sustained rupture of the 2026 Mw 7.6 Venezuela earthquake",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dq8jshsr08a07",
  "venue": "EarthArXiv",
  "versions": []
}