M 7.8 - Pazarcik earthquake, Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence
- 2023-02-06 01:17:34 (UTC)
- 37.226°N 37.014°E
- 10.0 km depth
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Origin - Review Status
- REVIEWED
- Magnitude
- 7.8 mww
- Depth
- 10.0 km
- Time
- 2023-02-06 01:17:34 UTC
Moment Tensor Fault Plane Solution Finite Fault Cross-section of slip distribution. View Nearby Seismicity - Time Range
± Three Weeks - Search Radius
250.0 km - Magnitude Range
≥ 4.0
Contributors US
USGS National Earthquake Information Center, PDE
Tectonic Summary
On February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Turkey near the northern border of Syria. The earthquake was followed 11 minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake resulted from strike-slip faulting at shallow depth. The event ruptured either a near-vertical left-lateral fault striking northeast-southwest, or a right-lateral fault striking southeast-northwest. The preliminary location of the earthquake places it within the vicinity of a triple-junction between the Anatolia, Arabia, and Africa plates. The mechanism and location of the earthquake are consistent with the earthquake having occurred on either the East Anatolia fault zone or the Dead Sea transform fault zone. The East Anatolia fault accommodates the westward extrusion of Turkey into the Aegean Sea, while the Dead Sea Transform accommodates the northward motion of the Arabia peninsula relative to the Africa and Eurasia plates.
Although earthquakes are commonly plotted as single points on a map, they rupture planes that have dimensions. A magnitude 7.8 strike slip earthquake typically ruptures a fault ~190 km long and ~25 km wide.
The region where the February 6 earthquake occurred is seismically active. Only three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger have occurred within 250 km of the February 6 earthquake since 1970. The largest of these, a magnitude 6.7, occurred northeast of the February 6 earthquake on January 24, 2020. All of these earthquakes occurred along or in the vicinity of the East Anatolia fault. Despite the relative seismic quiescence of the epicentral area of the February 6, southern Turkey and northern Syria have experienced significant and damaging earthquakes in the past. Aleppo, in Syria, was devastated several times historically by large earthquakes, though the precise locations and magnitudes of these earthquakes can only be estimated. Aleppo was struck by an estimated magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 1138 and an estimated magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 1822. Fatality estimates of the 1822 earthquake were 20,000-60,000.
For More Information
- Impact Summary
- Technical Summary
Frequently Asked Questions about 2023 Earthquakes in Trkiye CESMD Strong Motion Data Set The 2023 Kahramanmara, Turkey, Earthquake Sequence - interactive geonarrative M7.5 aftershock event page Preliminary mapping of fault rupture in Turkey earthquakes Learning from Earthquakes: M7.8, M7.5 Turkey - Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Animation of M7.8 Turkey earthquake seismic waves rolling across seismic stations in North America - EarthScope Consortium Latest Earthquakes List - Kandilla Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute