Earthquake: What Happened Underneath Turkey?

Earthquake Rocks Turkey and Syria

Earthquake: What happened underneath Turkey and Syria wasn’t less than doomsday for the people of the Global Village. February 6, 2023, was a very sad morning for the Global Village The initial earthquake struck overnight on the East Anatolian fault line.

Strongest in Years, Felt Across Borders

That runs through southern Turkey and it’s 7.8 on the magnitude scale. It was the largest earthquake in the region in living memory. Essentially earthquake happens in the middle of the night at about 4:00 AM in the morning while people are in bed. It was so powerful and it was felt across the region in different countries, including Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
The earthquake was so powerful and affected hundreds of other cities and towns. What makes this event so unusual is that nine hours after the initial Quake of 7.8 magnitudes, another huge 7.5 magnitude Aftershock. Almost as strong as the first happened as well as being violent.

Powerful Aftershock Strikes Shallow Depths

The Aftershock was relatively shallow in the Earth’s crust 18 and 10 kilometers deep respectively the closer to the surface. It damaged Turkey and Northern Syria very badly. They are at the junction of four tectonic plates with fault lines along their margins. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake in 1999 killed more than 17 000 lives and in 1939 more than 30 000 people died in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

Turkey Seeks Help After Major Earthquake

What Happened Underneath Turkey According to President Erdogan, this is the first major disaster on the level of the last one seen in 1939. But they have the capabilities. At the same time, Turkish officials are declaring this a level four emergency, which means they have requested international support, and international support is coming.

Turkish search and rescue teams that are very experienced in dealing with this have been deployed to the earthquake zone. The military also has been deployed.

Challenges In Rescue Missions

Winter Storm Adds to Turkey’s Struggles

They are facing many challenges including the weather. There’s a severe winter storm that is impacting that part of the country right now. Rescue teams from all around the world reaching to Turkey for help.

Rising Death Toll Concerns

There is a chance that the death toll could potentially climb into the hundreds of thousands. Right now, the search is underway for survivors trapped under giant piles of concrete. A dramatic video shows rescuers pulling a bloody toddler out of the rubble in northwest Syria.

Earthquake Aftermath Adds to Crisis

Syria is already traumatized and ravaged by the bloody civil war. The Syrian government doesn’t have the capabilities to deal with this. They are facing an enormous challenge because of the size of this earthquake and it happened in populated areas.

Infrastructure Damage Hinders Relief in Quake Zone

Major aftershocks also gave a very wide Geographic spread to the impact of this earthquake disaster. In these situations, roads and other infrastructure get damaged. This means getting around is hard Communications become difficult as 4G networks get overwhelmed.

It’s also so cold in parts of Turkey. At nighttime temperatures are down to minus four sometimes. Rescue teams are working very hard to get to survivors in these freezing temperatures.

Earthquake: What Happened Underneath Turkey?

Earthquake: What Happened Underneath Turkey that set these deadly events in motion? Professor of geophysics at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Martin Mai said that the actual cause of those two Quakes was the earthquake that happened on a plate boundary.

The earth is made up of tectonic plates and they move by Centimeters per year. A Deep process inside the Earth drives that movement. When these plates move they get stuck between each other once in a while. That stress builds up and has to be released and that is the earthquake. That happened in Turkey.

How Turkey’s Geology Shapes Disasters

To understand What Happened Underneath Turkey. In this particular area, we have the Arabian plate moving sort of northwards. We have part of what we call the Turkey micro plate moving westwards. And then the oration plate for the North and so the Eastern Italian fault is the plate boundary between the Arabian and the Turkish microplate.

That got stuck over the last centuries but the Deep motion continued. So that’s the stress build-up as described above and that causes the earthquakes.

Fault Zones and Historical Quakes

In 1939 earthquake was not on that fault system that wasn’t a northern Italian fault. Which is up north in Turkey. Those earthquakes or the latest earthquakes happened in the East Anatolian fault Zone. This move is maybe one or two centimeters per year.

It’s a rough speculation that in Northern Italian fault moves typically faster by three to five centimeters per year. So, these earthquakes are the same size as in 1939. But they are associated with different tectonic plate boundaries.

How does an Earthquake happen?

What Happened Underneath Turkey, have you ever wondered about earthquakes and what causes them? Here we’ll explore the science behind earthquakes and how they occur.

Earth’s Structure

For a better understanding of What Happened Underneath Turkey to understand the earth. Earth is not a single, solid piece but is made up of around 19 to 20 pieces called tectonic plates. These plates rest on a hot, partially molten layer of the Earth’s mantle, which causes them to continuously move. While these movements are usually small and imperceptible, some can be strong enough to generate earthquakes.

Earthquake Formation

Earthquakes typically occur in the lithosphere of the Earth. An earthquake is generated beneath the Earth’s surface and releases energy. The point where the earthquake originates beneath the Earth is called the hypocenter, and the corresponding point on the Earth’s surface is called the epicenter. That’s What Happened Underneath Turkey.

Magnitude of Earthquakes

Earthquakes are measured on the Richter scale, which assigns a magnitude to the event. Magnitude relates to the energy released during an earthquake and ranges from 0 to 10. A magnitude of 0 is barely noticeable, while a magnitude of 10 can result in severe destruction and loss of life over a large area.

Seismograph

Geologists use a device called a seismograph to measure seismic waves produced by tectonic plate movements. These waves are categorized into two types: body waves and surface waves.

Body Waves

Body waves move through the interior of the Earth and are the first to be recorded on a seismograph. There are two types of body waves: primary waves (P-waves) and secondary waves (S-waves). P-waves shake the ground back and forth in the same and opposite direction of the wave’s movement. S-waves move perpendicular to the wave’s direction and are what we feel as tremors.

Surface Waves

Surface waves are the most destructive and can cause buildings to collapse and harm human life. They are generated when body waves reach the Earth’s surface and cause the displacement of rocks.

Earthquake Simulation

A 3D simulator provides a visual representation of the Earth’s layers and the effects of various earthquake magnitudes. As the magnitude increases, the damage to structures and the environment becomes more severe. Earthquakes with a magnitude above 7 are considered major and have the potential to cause widespread destruction.

Predicting Earthquakes

Predicting earthquakes is challenging but vital for public safety. Scientists use seismographs to collect data that can aid in earthquake prediction and warning systems. Recent studies suggest that high concentrations of radioactive gases, radon, and thoron are released right before an earthquake, offering a potential seven-day advance warning.

Dealing with Earthquakes: What We Can and Can’t Do

What Happened Underneath Turkey, Unfortunately, earthquakes are not predictable. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was great hope in the community that earthquakes would be predictable. But those hopes were shattered in subsequent years and decades.

And now we say we cannot predict earthquakes to avoid like What Happened Underneath Turkey. We cannot prevent earthquakes. Earthquakes will happen. And they happen because of the deep motions inside the Earth. The only thing we can do is to prepare for earthquakes.

Earthquake Safety: Working Together for Protection

To avoid What Happened Underneath Turkey. We have to build our buildings in safe ways. In those safe seismic designs now we have mitigation plans that we can act upon. Society, politicians, and all stakeholders have to work together to prepare communities to be resilient. Because there’s no prediction there’s no prevention, only preparation to save humanity and the Global Village. That was the story of the Earthquake: This video explains better What Happened Underneath Turkey.