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The Destructive Earthquake Sequence of February 06, 2023, in South-Central Türkiye and Northern Syria: Initial Observations and Analyses

Description: 

On February 6, 2023, two powerful earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 rocked south-central Türkiye and northern Syria, strongly affecting the regions around Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, and Hatay. The epicenter of the first mainshock is located close to the East Anatolian Fault (EAF), while the second large earthquake 9 hours later initiated ~90 km north of the first mainshock on an east-west trending fault. Aftershocks delineate fault lengths of ~360 km and ~180 km, respectively. At the time of writing, the death toll surpasses 40,000 victims, rendering these events the deadliest earthquakes in Turkey since the 1939 rupture on the eastern North Anatolian Fault (NAF).

We collect seismic and satellite data to perform first-order analyses on surface-fault offsets, space-time evolution of the ruptures, and recorded ground-motions to help shed light on the reason for the destruction caused by these two earthquakes. The first event started on an EAF-branch and then ruptured the EAF bilaterally, lasted for ~80 sec and created surface-offsets of up to 7 m. The second event had a duration of ~40 sec, ruptured bilaterally and generated up to 8 m surface displacements. Both events are characterized by abrupt rupture cessation, generating strong stopping phases that may have contributed to the observed high shaking levels. In addition, directivity effects and local site amplifications are responsible for very large ground motions locally.

Session: February 2023 Mw 7.8 Earthquake Sequence in Turkey

Type: Oral

Date: 4/19/2023

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Paul Martin Mai

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Authors