Powerful earthquakes struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday (February 6th), causing thousands of deaths and considerable material damage. The region is unfortunately accustomed to deadly earthquakes, being located in a particularly active seismic zone.
This is not the first time that an earthquake has devastated the region. And for good reason: Turkey is caught in a vice between three tectonic plates, the movements of which can cause considerable disasters. Most of Turkey’s territory lies on the Anatolian Plate, bordered to the north by the Eurasian Plate and to the southeast by the Arabian Plate. It is one of the main seismic zones of the globe.
Monday’s earthquake occurred at the level of the East Anatolian fault, that is to say at the junction between the Anatolian plate and the Arabian plate, about 700 km long. The Arabian plate moved north, rubbing against the Anatolian plate.
Occurred in the middle of the night at 4:17 local time (1h17 UT), according to the American seismological institute USGS, at a depth of about 17.9 kilometers, the epicenter is located in the district of Pazarcik, in the province of Kahramanmaras (southeast). It was followed a few hours later by a second quake, with a magnitude of 7.5, four kilometers from the town of Ekinozu, in the south-east of the country.
This earthquake is the largest in Turkey since the earthquake of August 17, 1999 near Izmit, which caused the death of 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul. Following this, the authorities had multiplied risk prevention measures. Welcome initiatives in a country which, since 1900, has recorded more than 210 earthquakes with a magnitude equal to or greater than 6 on the Richter scale, according to the government agency for disaster management (Afad).
Turkey’s biggest earthquakes since 1900
♦ 1903: 2,803 people die when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hits Malazgirt district in the eastern province of Muş.
♦ 1912 : A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the district of Şarköy, in the north-west of the province of Tekirdağ, causing the death of 2,836 people.
♦ 1914: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastates the southwestern province of Burdur and kills 2,344 people.
♦ 1939 : 32,962 people die in a magnitude 7.9 earthquake – the strongest since the 17th century – which rocks northeastern Erzincan province and leaves the city in ruins.
♦ 1942: 3,000 people die in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Niksar district in the central Black Sea province of Tokat.
♦ 1943: A 7.4 magnitude earthquake hits Ladik district of the Black Sea province of Samsun, killing 2,824 people.
♦ 1944: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hits Gerede district in Bolu province in the western Black Sea, killing 3,959 people.
♦ 1966: 2,394 people die when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits Varto district in the eastern province of Muş.
♦ 1970: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastates Gediz district in western Kütahya province, killing 1,086 people.
♦ 1975: 2,394 people die in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Lice district in southeastern Diyarbakir province.
♦ 1976: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hits Çaldıran district in eastern Van province, killing 3,840 people.
♦ 1983: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits Horasan district in the eastern province of Erzurum, killing 1,155 people.
♦ 1999: 17,480 people die in a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the Gölcük district of Izmit province, affecting a large part of the Marmara region. Later in November, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits the neighboring province of Düzce, killing 710 people.
♦ 2011: a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits eastern Van province, killing 644 people.
♦ 2020: in October, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits the Aegean Sea, southwest of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, and near the Greek island of Samos, killing 116 people.
► In Images: Slideshow: earthquake in Turkey and Syria
Southeast Anatolia, the region where Monday’s earthquake occurred, is an area at risk. Major earthquakes have been observed there since antiquity. The city of Antioch, for example, was hit hard twice by earthquakes with an estimated magnitude greater than 7, in 115 and 526, with more than 250,000 deaths each time.
But it has been 200 years since an earthquake of such magnitude hit this area. The last dates back to August 13, 1822, when an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.4 caused tens of thousands of deaths (historians estimate the victims between 20 and 60,000) and very significant destruction. Aftershocks reportedly continued to rock the region for nearly two years.
Since then, the lack of significant seismic activity may have caused the population to “ neglect the importance of its dangerousness “, according to Roger Musson, researcher associated with the British Geological Survey interviewed by AFP. A duration which also means that a fairly large amount of energy has been able to accumulate along the fault. Supposition supported by the occurrence of a powerful aftershock after the main shock. When the tension becomes too strong, the plate advances abruptly and ” the release of this movement produces a major earthquake “.
► Read also: Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: a death toll now exceeding 5,000
In addition to the lack of preparation and the absence of a warning sign, the experts point to the time of the tragedy to explain the number of victims: at 4 a.m. local time, most of the inhabitants were sleeping at home and found themselves stuck when their houses collapsed. But they also wonder about the building construction standards in the region, given the extent of the destruction observed.
But seismologists are also worried about aftershocks, which may still occur in the hours or days to come. On Monday, no less than 185 aftershocks were recorded, following the first two tremors. Several aftershocks were recorded in the night, Tuesday before dawn. The strongest, of magnitude 5.5, was recorded at 6:13 a.m. (local time) 9 kilometers southeast of Gölbasi, in the south of the country.
The balance sheet continues to grow, while assessing the extent of the damage is still complicated.