The September 8th earthquake in Morocco, which killed around 2,900 people, reminds us of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria 7 months ago, which killed 59,000, located on the East Anatolian fault.
This East Anatolian fault was formed about 5 million years ago as a result of the pressure of the Eurasian and Arabian plates, which caused a crack in the Earth’s crust in the region that stretched from the North Anatolian fault to the Dead Sea fault. For the separation of the Anatolian plate from the Eurasian plate, we then have a plate.
The future of cleavage lies in understanding its formation
In a statement published by the “Live Science” website on September 8, Earth scientist Donna Whitney of the University of Minnesota, who led the study published in the journal “Geology” last May, said that it is impossible to predict earthquakes. , a deeper understanding of the fault may help researchers understand which areas are vulnerable to future fractures and why.
In this study, part of the Arabian plate is trapped under the Anatolian plate, and the edge of this trapped part of the Earth’s crust is located near the fault that erupted to cause the second earthquake near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Whitney led his team of interdisciplinary geologists to investigate how the Anatolian plate formed. The researchers used a variety of methods, including seismic surveys that use seismic waves or induced vibrations, to image what lies beneath the surface. To determine the age of rocks..
By allowing hot fluids from the rifted crust to come to the surface, researchers can heat the minerals they use to determine the age of rocks, essentially resetting their molecular clocks. Using these strange minerals, the research team was able to determine when and where the East Anatolia fault formed.
A region prone to earthquakes
The plate was formed by the collision of the Eurasian and Arabian plates that were slowly pushing towards each other. With some westward extension or tension from the bottom of the Aegean Sea, Anatolia had to move westward. Since the formation of the plate, seismic activity has been concentrated around the North Anatolia and East Anatolia faults.
The East Anatolia fault in particular has produced medium-sized earthquakes, the largest in modern history reaching magnitude 6.8, which occurred in 2020. In 1939, an earthquake centered on the northern Anatolia fault zone killed more than 32,000 people. 7.6 degrees in 1999, killing more than 17,000 people.
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