American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals
AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 1456900 bytes)    Cited by

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 24, 8039, doi:10.1029/2003GL018023, 2003

Seismogenic zones in Eastern Turkey

Niyazi Turkelli

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Eric Sandvol

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Ekrem Zor

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Rengin Gok

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Tolga Bekler

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Ali Al-Lazki

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Hayrullah Karabulut

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Sadi Kuleli

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Tuna Eken

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Cemil Gurbuz

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey


Salih Bayraktutan

Earthquake Research Center, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey


Dogan Seber

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Muawia Barazangi

Institute for the Study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA


Abstract

A 29-station temporary broadband PASSCAL network was operated from late October 1999 to August 2001 in eastern Turkey in order to decipher the geodynamics of one of the youngest continent-continent collision zones in the world. This paper focuses on the hypocentral distribution of local earthquakes located during the operation of the network and provides new insights into the active faulting in the Anatolian plateau. A total of 1165 earthquakes were located and classified into four different categories based on the reliability of the locations as established by the data coverage. The accuracy of the locations ranked in the best two categories is estimated to be less than approximately 5 km. The results show that seismic activity in Eastern Turkey is higher than previously documented and there were no subcrustal earthquakes beneath the Arabian-Eurasian collision zone or beneath the Anatolian plateau during our deployment. This result suggests no or very little underthrusting of the Arabian plate beneath Eurasia. Our results also suggest that the North Anatolian Fault zone extends farther toward the southeast, well beyond the Karliova triple junction, and that a number of unmapped active, seismogenic faults exist in the region. We also observed a possible difference in the seismogenic thickness of the East Anatolian fault zone (EAFZ) and the North Anatolian fault zone (NAFZ).

Received 22 June 2003; accepted 17 September 2003; published 28 October 2003.

Index Terms: 7205 Seismology: Continental crust (1242); 7230 Seismology: Seismicity and seismotectonics; 8102 Tectonophysics: Continental contractional orogenic belts; 8107 Tectonophysics: Continental neotectonics; 8120 Tectonophysics: Dynamics of lithosphere and mantle—general.


Read Full Article (file size: 1456900 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Turkelli, N., et al. (2003), Seismogenic zones in Eastern Turkey, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(24), 8039, doi:10.1029/2003GL018023.