Oca-Ancón Fault System

The Oca-Ancón Fault System (Falla Oca-Ancón) is a complex of geological faults located in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela near the Caribbean Sea. The fault system is of right-lateral strike-slip type and extends for an approximate length of 830 km. The Oca-Ancón Fault System is part of the diffuse boundary between the Caribbean Plate and the South American Plate. The movement rate of the Oca-Ancón Fault System is estimated at 2 mm each year, more than most Venezuelan faults.

Oca Fault segment
The vertical to subvertical Oca Fault segment in the western part of the fault system has a length of 265 km, running west–east through La Guajira, Colombia. It forms the northern boundary of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and cuts through the Serranía del Perijá continuing into Venezuela. The fault segment with a slip rate of 0.2 to 0.8 mm per year has been active since the Late Pleistocene (~15,000 years ago) and its most recent activity has been registered in 1834.