A series of violent earthquakes with the largest measuring 7.8 on February 6 occurred close to the Turkish-Syrian border; the region had not seen an earthquake of this strength in generations. The aftershocks caused destruction and a humanitarian and economic crisis as a result. Numerous people are still missing, and thousands of deaths have been reported.
In this region, the first earthquake struck 11 miles beneath the Turkish town of Gaziantep. Although it might appear far, during a big earthquake, that distance is actually rather close, making the town highly vulnerable. It won't be the last time this area is subjected to strong earthquakes. You must look below the surface, where three tectonic plates join, to comprehend why.
Its location is close to the point at where two tectonic plates collide. Most earthquakes happen along the boundaries between the tectonic plates that make up the Earth, which may be divided into numerous plates that are all rotating around one another. The Earth's crust is made up of massive rock slabs called tectonic plates, which can be up to 160 miles thick. Although it is referred to as the Anatolia plate, this plate is actually a microplate because of its tiny size. The Anatolia Plate is being forced westward by the Arabian Plate's pressure against the Eurasia Plate's pressure, where it encounters additional friction from the Africa Plate's upward movement, which is quite an advised between the Arabian Plate moving to the north against This little plate is being pushed aside as a result of the motion of the Eurasian plate. This indicates that as the Anatolia plate moves to the west and the Africa and Arabia plates move to the east, the boundaries between the two plates are attempting to slide against one another. These boundaries are known as strike slip faults, and when the friction between the plates increases while they are moving, it causes the faults to.
A big earthquake will eventually occur when enough strain has built up to allow it to rupture, which is what happened to generate the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. According to USGS estimates, there has likely been a buildup of three to five hundred years' worth of strain since the last earthquake. The strike slide occurred along a fault that was about 100 miles long, which is about 20 miles shorter than the average for strike slip earthquakes. Experts claim that the energy produced during that slip was on par with the energy generated during the violent Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption in 1980. More than 285 aftershocks have been recorded since the two earthquakes, which happened six miles beneath the surface. The USGS claims that this region is unstable and tectonically active. This place is without a doubt oneDue to the interaction of four different plates, it is one of the more difficult regions of the Earth. Three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have occurred within 155 miles of Monday's events since 1970, while the 600 Mile North Anatolian Fault generated seven severe strike-slip earthquakes between 1939 and 1999. Towns and villages in 19 provinces were practically entirely destroyed by earthquakes like this one from 1966, which claimed the lives of around 2000 people.
There hasn't been a major earthquake since 1999. It was overdue because there hadn't been a significant earthquake in this region for a while. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred in 1999 is thought to have killed about 17000 people. Currently, USGS predicts that there could be billions of dollars in economic damages, but the destruction and human casualties are the major worries. Years will pass before they fully recover. Will there be greater commotion if a third Quake is caused by the first two, though? Experts are uncertain. It might put When it comes to the convergence of the three plates, the question is not when an earthquake will occur, but rather when.
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