Morocco’s National Geophysical Institute announced that the 7-magnitude earthquake that occurred in Marrakech, Morocco, was the largest earthquake in the country’s history in the last century. The institute stated that the epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred at a depth of 8 kilometers, was the El-Huz region of Marrakech in the north of the country. DEU DAUM Director and Geological Engineering Department Lecturer Prof. Dr. Hasan Sözbilir spoke about the earthquake that caused many deaths.
‘EAST-WEST TRAINING TRAP FAULT HAS BREAKED IN MOROCCO’
Reminding the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Van on October 23, 2011, Prof. Dr. Sözbilir said, “The focal mechanism solution of the fault that caused the Morocco earthquake shows that the approximately east-west trending thrust fault bordering the High Atlas Mountains has broken. This fault is also located in the collision zone between the African Plate in the south and the Eurasian Plate in the north. 5 thousand kilometers from this region.” The Van earthquake, which occurred in 2011, was caused by the rupture of the approximately east-west oriented Van Fault, which is a thrust fault. This region is located in the collision zone of the Arabian Plate in the south and the Eurasian Plate in the north. Both regions are tectonic plates compressed in the north-south direction. “It is located on its borders,” he said.
‘TWO CITIES WERE SHOCKED BY SIMILAR FAULT TYPES, 12 MONTHS apart’
Emphasizing the similarity between Van and Marrakesh, Prof. Dr. Sözbilir said, “There was a loss of 644 lives in the Van earthquake. Despite being 5 thousand kilometers away from each other, the cities of Morocco and Van were shaken at different times, with similar geological environment and similar fault type, and a similar earthquake magnitude of around 7 within 12 years. These earthquakes caused a population of approximately 1 million. “The fact that the loss of life and property was relatively low in the Van earthquake shows that the building stock of Van is in a better condition than Marrakech,” he said.
‘THERE ARE NEARLY 30 FAULT SEGMENTS’
Pointing out that there are nearly 30 fault segments in the ‘Southeastern Anatolian Thrust’, Prof. Dr. Sözbilir said, “This type of fault, observed only in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolian regions of Turkey, is known as the ‘Southeast Anatolian Thrust’. “It extends in an east-west direction as far as Siirt-Şırnak-Van-Hakkari and Yüksekova-Şemdinli. There are nearly 30 fault segments within this thrust belt that have the potential to produce earthquakes of 6.3 to 7.2 magnitudes,” he said. (DHA)
