US experts said ‘Careful here’, the region trembled twice

The Pütürge district of Malatya, which American scientists say “the next earthquake may be here”, was shaken twice today.

According to the news reported by Euronews Turkish, in a new study by American scientists, it was observed that the Pütürge fault did not rupture in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes that struck Turkey. The study, led by the University of Southern California (USC), was published in the scientific journal Seismica.

Scientists involved in the study warned that if the friction intensifies, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake could be triggered near Malatya. Led by geophysicist Sylvian Barbot, the study documented the massive earthquakes on February 6 using remote sensing.

“We have learned a little bit more about what we need to be prepared for. “We don’t know the time, but we know where it could be.”

‘NO SLIP IN PÜTÜRG’

Large earthquakes occur due to the shifting of tectonic plates. Plates, the slowly moving parts of Earth’s crust, press against each other and gradually build up energy over decades, centuries, or even longer. When the plates finally slide, the energy is released and reaches the earth’s crust in the form of waves.

According to the study, a lot of seismic activity was observed on the fault line below the Pütürge district of Malatya, but no slippage occurred. The researchers say this means the fault is locked or stuck and is likely to slip in the future.

Bardot stressed that in light of this information, the local population must be prepared first. For the main shock, rupture propagation stopped to the south at the diffuse termination of the East Anatolian fault and narrowed to the north towards the Pütürge segment, approximately 20 kilometers south of the magnitude 6 Elazig earthquake, 8 in 2020, emphasizing a potential seismic gap. These events underscore the high seismic potential of immature fault systems.

FEAR FOR EARTHQUAKE IN PÜTÜRG

Immediately after the publication of this study, two separate earthquakes in Pütürge raised fears.

Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, 5 km from the ground surface. He explained the magnitude of the earthquake, which occurred at 13.51 in the layer below it, as 3.8, and its epicenter as Pütürge-Arıtoprak.

The second earthquake occurred at 13:54 at the same depth and this time in the center of Pütürge-Çayköy. The Kandilli Observatory announced that the magnitude of this earthquake was 3.4.