Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, which yesterday, February 6, swept through southern Turkey and northern Syria at intervals of nine hours, caused the Anatolian plate to shift about 3 meters southwest of the Arabian plate .
This was stated by the President of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Professor Carlo Doglioni, according to the publication Corriere della Sera.
It is noted that these two earthquakes are part of the same seismic sequence caused by the intersection of four constantly colliding plates – Anatolian, Arabian, Eurasian and African.
The collision of these plates leads to the accumulation of seismic energy along a long fault, which makes this entire area one of the most dangerous in the Mediterranean.
It is noted that on February 6, a horizontal, that is, in one plane, sliding of the Anatolian plate southwest of the Arabian plate occurred with a hypocenter (the point in the Earth where the earthquake occurred) at a depth of 15 to 20 km.
In other words, Turkey actually moved five or six meters in comparison with Syria. More accurate data will be available in the coming days after the satellite imagery is completed, Doglioni said.
As a result:
- a massive rupture engulfed an area 190 km long and 25 km wide, violently shaking the earth and causing tremors that reached the two most intense peaks with a difference of nine hours;
- smaller tremors also occurred, reaching up to 5-6 points on the Richter scale;
- at the same time there were also innumerable small shocks, about 200 already in the first few hours;
- a tsunami occurred with a wave of low energy and a height of up to 30 cm.
Doglioni notes that such a powerful earthquake can even lead to the emergence of a kind of “seismic epidemic” that can last for days, months, if not years, as happened in some cases in the past.
It is impossible to foresee, but until the accumulated energy is released, the phenomenon will not stop, the scientist notes.
Source: Corriere della Sera
Source: Racurs
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