Review of Tectonic activity and the causes of the 2023 Türkiye earthquakes
Acta Geophysica, cilt.74, sa.5, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
- Cilt numarası: 74 Sayı: 5
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s11600-026-02013-0
- Dergi Adı: Acta Geophysica
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Aerospace Database, Compendex, Geobase, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Earth, Atmospheric, & Aquatic Science Collection (ProQuest), Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Türkiye earthquakes, Elbistan earthquake, Kahramanmaraş mainshock, Savrun fault, Çardak fault
- Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The 2023 Türkiye earthquake sequence, including the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş mainshock and the Mw 7.6 Elbistan earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023, is reviewed based on significant published literature. It has been reported that the occurrence of detected pre-seismic anomalies began to increase approximately 33 days before the mainshock and reached a peak one day before the event. The co-seismic slip of these two major events highlights important features of brittle-crust deformation along the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) and adjacent fault systems. For the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş mainshock, the slip distribution along the EAFZ is characterized by heterogeneous maximum slip of approximately 8–10 m, depending on the dataset and modeling approach. The Mw 7.6 Elbistan event rupture was more compact with a maximum slip of ~12 m from the Earth's surface to a depth of 7 km. The results indicate significant locking depth and lateral fault slip variation along the western and central EAFZ segments, and there was good spatial constancy with the rupture of the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş mainshock. The speed of maximum rupture was estimated ~3.2 km/s for the Mw 7.8 event. The relocation of event distribution points out a set of spatially elongated events throughout the EAFZ at the southwestern segment within the entire aftershock sequence. The main contribution of this review is the integrated interpretation of the 2023 earthquake sequence as a dynamically linked, multi-fault earthquake doublet controlled by fault segmentation, Coulomb stress transfer (CST), cascading rupture, and rupture propagation across bends and step-overs. This synthesis suggests that the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş mainshock and the Mw 7.6 Elbistan event should be understood not as isolated events, but as part of a complex fault network interaction with important implications for seismic hazard assessment along the EAFZ and adjacent fault systems.