What is known about the Eastern Anatolia Fault Line?

Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6, which occurred yesterday morning in the Pazardzhik and Elbistan regions of Kahramanmarash, caused the most severe damage in recent years. According to the latest data, as a result of two strong earthquakes and tremors, 3,381 citizens were killed, 20,426 people were injured, and 5,575 buildings were destroyed. The earthquake that caused a great tragedy in our country occurred on the fault line of Eastern Anatolia. So, what is known about the fault line? Let’s look at the details together.

The Eastern Anatolia fault line is one of the three main fault lines in our country, along with the North Anatolia and Aegean fault lines.

The earthquake that hit Kahramanmaras yesterday morning also hit this fault line. The East Anatolia Fault Line is an active seismic zone extending from east to south of Turkey. It is known that more than 6 earthquakes have occurred on the fault line since the beginning of the 20th century.

The Eastern Anatolia Fault Line is 550 kilometers long.

However, the fault line starts from Hatay and continues to Bingol along the lines of Kahramanmarash, Adiyaman, Malatya and Elazig. Joining the North Anatolia fault line at Bingöl’s Karlova region, the line extends to the Dead Sea Fault in the western Mediterranean. Cities located on the fault line are considered earthquake zones of the first degree according to the Turkey Earthquake Hazard Map, which came into force in 2019. In this direction, Hatay, Kahramanmarash and Osmaniye are among the 24 cities with active fault lines running through the city center.

Before the Kahramanmaras earthquake, the last earthquake on the East Anatolia fault line occurred in 2020.

The magnitude of the earthquake that occurred in Elazig on January 24, 2020 was 6.8. As a result of the earthquake, 41 people died, more than 1,000 people were injured. However, over the past 25 years, many strong earthquakes have occurred along the East Anatolia fault line. The 1998 Adana-Ceyhan, 2003 Bingol, and 2010 Elazig earthquakes are among the major earthquakes that occurred along the fault line.

For this reason, it will not be a mistake to say that a significant part of the major earthquakes that occurred in our country occurred precisely on this line. Okay, but why? Why do most strong earthquakes occur on this line?

Director of the Center for Applied Earthquake Research at Dokuz Eylul University prof. Dr. According to Hassan Sozbilir, the cause of large fault line earthquakes is “500 years of energy accumulation”.

Sezbilir argues that the major earthquakes seen in Turkey mainly occur on the North Anatolia and East Anatolia fault lines, and that two different fault lines were broken in the two Kahramanmaras earthquakes and hence a large release of energy occurred.

According to Sözbilir, in order to break, he needs to accumulate energy over a certain period of time. The fracture interval at Kahramanmarash is 500 years. This long period causes a buildup of high energy at the fault line. As a result, strong earthquakes occur on the fault line. Sözbilir “C” about the Kahramanmaras earthquakeThere was a massive power drain. A major earthquake is no longer expected. We can see about 6 aftershocks. The main thing at this stage is not to enter damaged buildings.” he uses.

Earthquakes along the Eastern Anatolia fault line occur in regions called “seismic gaps”.

The seismic gap has been used for many years to describe areas on a fault line where there is no seismic activity and intense energy storage occurs. For this reason, some experts have long warned that earthquakes could occur in areas called seismic gaps on the East Anatolian fault line.

Director of the Kandilli Observatory and the Institute of Earthquake Research of Bogazici University prof. Dr. Haluk Ozener, at a press conference he held after the Kahramanmaras earthquake, recalled that after the Elazig earthquake in 2020, various earthquakes occurred on the fault line. Ozener also stated at the press conference: “B.This and similar earthquakes will unfortunately occur in this geography. Therefore, we are developing our research on how prepared we can be and how we can reduce the risks, not when and where an earthquake will occur.‘ made a statement.

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