‘The danger has not yet passed’

There have been earthquakes in Turkey again. Six people lost their lives. According to the Civil Protection Bureau, 294 people were injured, 18 of them seriously Afad announced Tuesday.

Afad according to two more powerful earthquakes occurred in the Turkish region on Monday night hate were felt every three minutes. They scored 6.4 and 5.8 on the Richter scale, with 10 being the highest, just two weeks after the earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in both Turkey and Syria. It has been noisy since Monday evening Afad there were also about 90 aftershocks.

But should Actually the worst is long gone? Frederik Tilmann, head of the seismology section of the German Geosciences Research Center GFZ, when asked, says to Blick: “Such violent aftershocks are normal.” Bebe’s dangerN climb even still. Expert Tilmann explains this against the background of underground plate tectonics.

Plate friction always causes vibrations

There are two major active seismic zones in Turkey. “The earthquakes occurred along the so-called East Anatolian fault zone.” There they meet anatolian and the Arabian plate would collide and move sideways at a rate of about 1.4 centimeters per year. “Because of this friction, it happens at irregular intervals Unpleasant partly strong earthquakes,” says Tilmann.

According to Tilmann, seismic activity along the East Anatolian fault zone has been unusually quiet for the past 100 years. The expert on Blick: “Even after the major quake of Feb. 6, there were fears that the remaining parts of the eastern Anatolian fault zone would be additionally stressed by the stress shift and that future quakes could emerge.” Suppose there are multiple aftershocks at short intervals.

“It was only a matter of time”

The catastrophic quake happened because tension had built up during the long, calm period, Tilmann says. “It was only a matter of time.” The southwestern part of the East Anatolian fault zone is activated over a length of 180 kilometers and to a depth of about 20 kilometers. seismogenicbrittle crust.

Tilmann: “The area affected by the recent earthquake is further south.” This is also about the African Plate and a so-called triple junction of tectonic plate boundaries: in addition to the East Anatolian fault zone, there is the continental plate boundary fault Dead Sea transformation Debt involved, extending to the Gulf of Aqaba, and the arc of Cyprus, a zone of the African Plate that dips beneath the Anatolian Plate.

it’s coming probably more aftershocks

According to Tilmann, more aftershocks are to be expected. “Unfortunately, one cannot tell when the danger is over.” The main problem is that many buildings have been damaged by previous earthquakes. “Often smaller earthquakes are enough to bring the building down.”

The Turkish authorities have people in the region hate urged not to return to their homes. Media reports that there are too few tents in the province and that many people are still staying overnight in damaged houses. The civil protection authority announced on Tuesday evening that it had already delivered 6,000 additional tents to the region.

Source: Blick