Assessment ongoing on Galfa Point/L’Envieuse deformation
A team of UWI-SRC staff are assessing data at the Galfa Point/L’Envieuse ground in Trinidad following back to back 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes off the coast of Venezuela.
They visited the Galfa Point/L’Envieuse to conduct fieldwork on ground deformation recorded at the site on Saturday 27th June, 2026, days after the June 24 earthquake.
The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC) has concluded in a preliminary assessment that the ground deformation at Galfa Point/L’Envieuse was most likely triggered by the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes in Venezuela.
“This event bears similarity to the ground deformation that occurred at Los Iros following the magnitude 6.9 event in 2018. Both events occurred due to the seismic characteristic and geology of the sites,” the team cited on social media.
Researchers explain that the fluid-rich soils surrounding these mud volcanoes are softer than surrounding rock, making them especially susceptible to strong earthquake shaking. They found that the natural vibration frequency of the L’Envieuse mud volcano closely matched the frequency of the earthquake waves, causing the ground to resonate and reactivate mudflows.
The report also notes that the two Venezuelan earthquakes occurred close together in time, along the same fault system and with similar characteristics, effectively producing more than 10 minutes of sustained shaking.
The Seismic Research Centre warns that similar ground deformation can be expected in areas with comparable geology following sufficiently large earthquakes and recommends measures to reduce future risks to lives, property and livelihoods in these vulnerable locations.