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A Trojan Horse? Seismic swarm in Turkey gently stresses a major fault zone

temblor.net   16 February 2017   Turkey   Asia  

A series of mid-sized earthquakes (also called a seismic swarm) occurred at the tip of the Biga Peninsula in Turkey at the intersection of the Kestanbol Fault and the Edremit Fault Zone. In just a few days, 800 earthquakes varying size were felt, including three damaging magnitude 5+ earthquakes. As a result, over 350 building sustained extensive damage (AFAD). Authorities also asked residents not to enter any building before official building assessment. The Turkish Government swiftly built a small village from container houses for those who needed shelter.

"We calculated that the recent seismic swarm stressed the western portions of the Edremit Fault Zone by about 0.1 bar. If we start seeing larger numbers of small earthquakes on the Edremit Fault Zone, it would suggest the fault was triggered by the seismic swarm. The last large earthquake on the Edremit fault was a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1944. Therefore, a similar quake in the future would not be surprising. Thus, we think the seismicity around the Edremit fault should be closely monitored." Temblor authors state.

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