A Report on Geological and Seismic Evaluation of the February 6, 2023 Mw 7.8 and Mw 7.7 Earthquakes, and their Kinematic and Dyamic Interactions


Altunel E., Pınar A., Erdik M. Ö., Akkar D. S.

Teknik Rapor, ss.1-24, 2023

  • Yayın Türü: Diğer Yayınlar / Teknik Rapor
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-24
  • Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Two large earthquakes of moment magnitudes Mw 7.8 and Mw 7.7 occurred in southeast Turkey on February 6, 2023, at 04:17 and 13:24 (local time, +3 GMT), respectively.  (The second earthquake was initially reported as Mw 7.5, which was recently revised as Mw 7.7).  This report discuses and elaborates the faults ruptured by these earthquakes, their rupture mechanisms, and the historical earthquake activities on these faults.  On the basis of this information, an extensive discussion and evaluation take place about the kinematic relation between the ruptured fault segments of these two major events. These discussions illuminate the level of kinematic interaction between these two faults that led the triggering of the second earthquake (Mw 7.7) by the stress transfer of the first event (Mw 7.8).

The slip model presented in this report indicate that the Mw 7.8 event that occurred on the main segments of the East Anatolian Fault Zone loaded additional stress on the Sürgü-Çardak fault. The excessive additional stress pushed forward the failure of the Sürgü-Çardak fault and its western segment ruptured creating the second major earthquake (Mw 7.7) approximately nine hours after the first one.