Scientists examine earthquakes that struck Turkey: ‘May be a clue to the big earthquake expected in the US.’
The earthquakes that choked Turkey have also raised concerns in the US state of California, home to one of the world’s most dangerous fault lines.
The New York Times, a major US publication, compared the fault line where the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes occurred to the dangerous San Andreas fault in California. Noting that the two faults are very similar to each other in terms of their structures, scientists are trying to get clues about strong earthquakes that may hit the US West Coast in the future by examining the earthquakes that struck Turkey.
US scientists, noting that the eastern Anatolian fault line has much in common with the San Andreas fault, which is expected to produce a strong earthquake in the near future, began to examine earthquakes centered on Kahramanmaraş and its aftershocks through satellite and ground measurements. Researchers analyze the potential severity of the large earthquake expected in California by examining two separate earthquakes.
In the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994, 57 people lost their lives and nearly 9,000 people were injured.
‘TWO CONSEQUENTIAL EARTHQUAKES ARE POSSIBLE HERE’
“There is no doubt that we will learn a lot from these earthquakes,” said American seismologist Ross Stein.
From the Scripps Institution, which studies aftershocks in Turkey, Dr. Debi Kilb noted that the second quake on Kahramanmaraş was an unexpected situation and could also occur on the San Andreas fault. Professor Judith Hubbard of Cornell University emphasized that an earthquake on the San Andreas fault can cause another fault to rupture and another severe earthquake.
California was rocked by the magnitude 7.9 San Francisco earthquake in 1906 and the similar magnitude Fort Tejon earthquake in 1857. Both earthquakes occurred on the San Andreas Fault, one of the most dangerous faults in the world.
TWICE THE EASTERN ANATOLIAN FAULT
According to scientists, the probability of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurring in Los Angeles in the next 30 years is 30 percent, and severe earthquakes may occur in different parts of the region in the near future.
The New York Times commented that the earthquake in California could be more severe, noting that the San Andreas Fault, which runs about 1,200 kilometers across California, is twice as long as the East Anatolian Fault Line. .