Four years have passed since the earthquake that occurred off the coast of Seferihisar district of Izmir, causing the death of 117 people and injuring 1034 people in 15 seconds.
Speaking to VOA Turkish, TMMOB Chamber of Geological Engineers Izmir Branch Vice President Reyhan Peştemalcı stated that Izmir has been a risky earthquake zone throughout history both in the world and in Türkiye.
‘There are 13 active faults in Izmir’
Peştemalcı said: “Historically, there have been faults that created many earthquakes. In particular, in addition to the Karaburun earthquake, the Söke-Balat earthquake, although its name was Söke-Balat, occurred in the Aegean Sea in Izmir in 1955 with a magnitude of 6.8 and was quite devastating. Currently, we have 13 active faults. These are the Izmir fault, Seferihisar fault, Gülbahçe fault and Tuzla fault. Especially after the Tuzla fault 30 October Samos earthquake, Prof. Dr. It is a fault that has been further examined with the work done by our teacher Hasan Sözbilir and his team. Because currently our most risky fault is the Tuzla fault.”
‘There is an earthquake potential of 7 or more’
Pointing out that the Tuzla fault, which passes under the Peştemalcı city center, has the capacity to produce earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above, and that this fault is thought to have been triggered in the October 30 earthquake, he said:
“In the current studies carried out on the Tuzla fault, hot water outflows and temperature increases have been observed. This is important data for a fault that will cause an earthquake with an average magnitude of 7.1 or 7.2. After this, it enters into tectonic activity. The recurrence period was calculated as an average of 2000 years, and the last earthquake it produced occurred in 128. Of course, since this fault is not a systematic fault, the 2000-year period was calculated as an average. This is a range that may change. However, the 2000-year period is very important data for us.”
Source: www.dunya.com
