The earthquake that occurred in southern Turkey caused a major disaster in which thousands were killed and injured, with the collapse of entire buildings, and Arab countries were affected in it.
The states that were affected by the first earthquake, which occurred at 04:17 a.m. Monday, with a magnitude of 7.7, and the second, which occurred at 13:24 p.m. Monday, are Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Kilis, Diyarbakir, Adana, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman, Malatya, and Gaziantep.
Turkey is located on three active seismic lines, which are the rift of Western Anatolia, Northern Anatolia, and Eastern Anatolia, and are confined between the Eurasian, Arabian and African plates.
The North Anatolia fault line is considered one of the most active and important fault lines in the world, with a length of 1,200 km and a width ranging between 100 and 10 km.
It extends like an arc in the east-west direction, between the regions of Karlova to the east, and the Valley of Mudorno in Bolu County to the west.
The most prominent earthquakes that occurred in this rift were the Erzincan earthquake in 1992, the Erzurum earthquake in 1983, the Warto earthquake in 1966, and the Izmit earthquake in 1992.
As for the Western Anatolian Line, which extends from east to west in western Anatolia, it lines up from north to south, and contains many faults.
The East Anatolia fault line extends about 550 km from the Marash triple junction at the northern end of the Dead Sea fissure, extends in a northeasterly direction and ends at the Karlova triple junction, where it meets the North Anatolia fault line.
The East Anatolian Fault Line joins with the North Anatolian Fault Line from Erzincan after continuing to Hatay, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Adiyaman, Elazig, as well as Bingol and Muş.
Many earthquakes, with a magnitude of 6, have occurred in the East Anatolia Rift Zone since the beginning of the 20th century.
The provinces on this line have been included as a first-class earthquake zone in Turkey’s earthquake risk map, which came into effect in 2019.
Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Osmaniye, which were affected by the recent earthquake, are among the 24 provinces with active fault lines.
According to the Bogazici University Seismological Observatory website, more than 190 earthquakes occurred in Turkey and surrounding areas in the past 24 hours, and no less than 150 earthquakes occurred between Elazig and Hatay on the North Anatolia fault line.
The director of the Center for Earthquake Applications at the University of September 9, Hasan Suzblir, stated on the “Khabar Turk” channel, that the large earthquakes that were monitored in Turkey occurred mainly on the fault lines in northern Anatolia and eastern Anatolia.
He pointed out that two different faults were broken in the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, indicating that there is a large discharge of energy there.
Pointing out that in order for a fracture to occur in the fault line, the expert explained that the necessary energy must be accumulated for that, and the time period for the fracture in Kahramanmaraş amounted to 500 years, and a very large energy was accumulated during this time.
He pointed out that a large discharge of energy occurred in the fault, and therefore we do not expect another major earthquake to occur in that area at the present time.
Warnings of the eastern Anatolia fault line
The earthquakes that occurred in the eastern Anatolian rift are called “seismic gaps”, which are active parts located along the rift that have not been subjected to major earthquakes in a long period of time.
Experts have been warning for some time of the possibility of earthquakes in the “seismic gap” areas on the eastern Anatolian fault line.
The director of the Seismological Observatory at Bozgazig University, Khalluk Ozenir, stated in a press conference that after the Elazig earthquake in 2020, the region was subjected to many earthquakes of different levels on the eastern Anatolian line, indicating that an earthquake will also occur in the coming period.
Does the earthquake cause an earthquake in the Sea of Marmara?
The Turkish expert, Erhan Altunel, stated that the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş was the result of an accumulation of pressure over a period of 900 years, and if we take into account the sliding speed of 6 to 7 mm on the fault line, this means that the accumulation of pressure reached approximately six meters when The degassing process took place and caused the great earthquake.
He added, in an interview on the Turkish “CNN”, that in order for the major earthquake to cause a rift in other fault lines, it must be adjacent to it, ruling out that the recent major earthquake would cause an earthquake in the Sea of Marmara or other areas of the North Anatolian rift.
The most prominent major earthquakes that occurred in Turkey during 100 years
The magnitude of the earthquake, which occurred on December 27 in the eastern Turkish state of Erzincan, was 7.9, killing 33,000 people, injuring 100,000, and destroying about 116,000 buildings.
While it was recorded as the largest tremor the Turkish Republic had ever experienced, with this earthquake the existence of a fault line north of Anatolia was revealed for the first time.
In the city of Arba in the state of Tokat in the Black Sea region, a 7-magnitude earthquake occurred in 1942, killing three thousand people.
On June 20, 1943, an earthquake occurred in the Adapazari region in northwestern Turkey, with a magnitude of 6.6, killing 336 people.
On November 26, 1943, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake occurred in the Ladik district of Samsun Province, killing 4,000 citizens.
On February 1, 1944, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred in the Bolu region on the Black Sea, killing 3,959 people.
On May 31, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in Wartu, Muş Province, eastern Anatolia, killing 839 people.
450 people died in the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.7, in Karlova in the eastern city of Bingol on August 17, 1949.
On August 19, 1966, Warto, Mush Governorate, was hit by a 6.9-magnitude earthquake, killing 2,394 people.
About 1,000 people were killed by the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that hit Gediz in Kütahya Province on March 28, 1970.
On May 22, 1971, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Bingol, in the east of the country, killing 878 people.
Two thousand and 385 people were killed in the 6.6-magnitude earthquake that struck Diyarbakir, on September 6, 1975.
On November 24, 1976, 3,840 people died in the 7.5-magnitude earthquake in Chalderan, Van state.
In the 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Erzurum on October 30, 1983, 1155 people lost their lives.
653 people died in the 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Erzincan on March 13, 1992.
On August 17, 1999, the 7.4-magnitude earthquake, centered in Golcuk in the state of Kocaeli on the coasts of the Sea of Marmara in northwest Turkey, was recorded as the longest earthquake in Turkish history, killing 18,373 people and injuring tens of thousands.
On November 12, 1999, 894 people were killed in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, centered in the state of Duzce in northern Anatolia.
On May 1, 2003, 176 people were killed in the 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Bingol.
On October 23, 2011, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Van, killing 644 people and injuring 1,966 others.
In the earthquake that occurred in January 2020, with a magnitude of 6.8 in Elazig, eastern Turkey, 41 people were killed.
On October 30, 2020, 116 people lost their lives in the 6.6-magnitude earthquake in Izmir.
What are the most dangerous areas in Turkey?
The Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) prepared a map of the earthquake risks in Turkey, the areas where the fault lines pass and their levels of severity.
The most dangerous cities are Izmir, Balikesir, Manisa, Muğla, Aydin, Denizli, Sparta, Usak, Bilecik, Yalova, Sakarya, Duzce, Kocaeli, Kirsehir, Bolu, Karabuk, Hatay, Partin, Cankiri, Tokat, Amasya, and Canakkale. Erzincan, Tunceli, Bingol, Mush, Hakkari, Osmaniye, Karakale and Siirt.
As for the regions that are considered dangerous of the second degree, they are Tikrdag, Istanbul Bitlis, Kahramanmaraş, Van Adiyaman, Sirnak, Zonguldak, Tikrdag, Afyon, Samsun, Antalya, Erzurum, Kars, Ardahan, Batman, Igdir, Elazig, Diyarbakir, Adana, Eski. Shahir, Malatya, Kutahya, Cangari, Achak, Agri, Çorum.
And the areas that are considered dangerous to the third degree are the regions in Eskisehir, Antalya, Tikrdag, Istanbul, Kastamonu, Ordu, Mardin and Şanlıurfa.
According to the earthquake map of Turkey, the provinces in the fourth and fifth groups with the least danger of the earthquake are Sinop, Giresun, Trabzon, Rize, Artvin, Kırklareli, Ankara, Edirne, Adana, Nowshahr, Niğde, Aksaray, Konya and Kerman.
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