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Rapid Surface Rupture Mapping of the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Sequence to Support Response Efforts

The 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake sequence in southeastern Türkiye caused >500 km of surface rupture on the left-lateral East Anatolian and Çardak faults. Constraining the length and magnitude of surface displacement on the causative faults is critical for loss estimates, recovery efforts, and rapid identification of impacted infrastructure. To support these efforts, we rapidly mapped the surface rupture and released the results to the public (DOI: 10.5066/P985I7U2) on 10 February 2023 with subsequent updates. We interpreted the initial simplified rupture trace from sub-pixel offset fields derived from Sentinel-1 synthetic aperature radar image pairs acquired on 29 January and 10 February 2023 and supplemented and revised it as high-resolution (<0.7-m pixel) optical images from WorldView 1-3 satellites (© 2023 Maxar) became available. This mapping helped guide fieldwork and USGS finite fault modeling. It also constrained loss estimates, stress change calculations, and deformation models. The M_w7.8 earthquake on the East Anatolian fault created at least ~335-340 km of surface rupture on the primary fault, plus ~40-45 km on two fault splays. The M_w7.5 earthquake on the Çardak fault created up to ~175 km of surface rupture on the primary fault, plus possibly ~20 km on a north-south splay in the west. Field verification was critical for constraining surface rupture length and displacement of the Çardak fault because we lacked high-resolution imagery coverage for more than one month after the earthquake. The M_w7.8 earthquake is amongst the longest historic surface ruptures, but on-fault slip along it is moderate with a maximum of ~6-7 m. The M_w 7.5 earthquake has larger offsets, up to ~8-8.5 m, and both ruptures vary between localized and distributed deformation along strike. Additionally, comparing the mapped ruptures with crowd-sourced infrastructure maps enables identification of places where key infrastructure (e.g., roads, pipelines, railways, hospitals) could have been cut by the surface rupture. Such maps can assist first responders and field reconnaissance teams in directing response efforts.

Session: February 2023 Mw 7.8 Earthquake Sequence in Turkey

Type: Oral

Room: 201 A/B

Date: 4/19/2023

Presentation Time: 10:45 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Nadine Reitman

Student Presenter: No

Additional Authors