The resorts of Turkey recorded the first major earthquake this year: on Monday evening, an earthquake was recorded in the Aegean Sea near Izmir. The magnitude was significantly less than that of the catastrophic earthquakes of early February – only 4.1, although this is not small. Indeed, this was enough for local residents and tourists to run out into the street in a panic.
N.B. Previously, scientists have repeatedly warned that resorts in Turkey will sooner or later suffer from an earthquake. Read more in the article “Resorts hit the fault line: places in Turkey announced where tourists are at risk of a new earthquake.”
According to official data from the Turkish AFAD (Disaster Management Authority), which is transmitted by the Turkish edition of Ahaber, an earthquake of magnitude 4.1 occurred in the Aegean Sea near Izmir. The depth of the earthquake, which occurred at 21:22, was 14.5 kilometers.
At the same time, judging by the data of the Turkish publication, the tremors were palpable and plunged the population and tourists in the province into a panic. The elements were especially noticeable in the town of Foca, about 70 km from Izmir itself, also located on the coast. There, the frightened population and tourists ran out into the streets in panic, fleeing the tremors. No damage reported.
Recall that Izmir is on the “first line” among the provinces with the risk of an earthquake. Moreover, in October 2020, the city and the province of the same name were already hit by an earthquake of 7 on the Richter scale, the epicenter of which was in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, about 18 km from the province of Izmir at a depth of 16.5 km. Then, in the city itself and in the surrounding area, many buildings were destroyed, and even a tsunami “swept” along the coastal parts of the resort – read the details here.
Recall that almost all Turkish resort provinces fall into the “risk zone”. In the “first stage”, according to the forecasts of Turkish geophysicists, the provinces: Izmir, Balıkesir, Manisa, Muğla, Aydin, Denizli, Isparta, Usak, Bursa, Bilecik Yalova, Sakarya, Duzce, Kocaeli, Kirsehir, Bolu, Karabuk, Hatay, Bartin, Cankiri, Tokat, Amasya, Canakkale, Erzincan, Tunceli, Bingol and Mush, Hakkari, Osmaniye, Kirikkale and Siirt. In the second – Tekirdag, Istanbul (1st and 2nd districts), Bitlis, Kahramanmaras, Van, Adiyaman, Shirnak, Zonguldak, Afyon, Antalya, Samsun, Kars, Erzurum, Batman, Ardahan, Igdir, Adana, Diyarbakir, Malatya , Eskisehir, Kutahya, Usak, Agri, Korum.
At the same time, according to the head of the branch of the Chamber of Geological Engineers (JMO), geophysicist Bayram Ali Celtik, in the past, Antalya also has tragic events associated with strong earthquakes and human casualties, so “it is clear that they will occur in the resort area in the coming years.” “The fault line hasn’t moved in 500 years – but things can change. In fact, it could be a seismic rupture. Today we see what it led to. We have similar gaps in Antalya, Aksu, Korkuteli, Doshemealti. In our bay (Antalya) there is a subduction zone (a linear zone on the border of lithospheric plates, along which some blocks of the earth's crust sink under others, the result of their interaction is strong earthquakes in this zone). But we don’t know exactly when an earthquake will occur,” the geophysicist said. Read the details here.
Earlier, German scientists also suggested that Istanbul could also be in the zone of the violence of the elements. The fact that the “cultural capital” of Turkey is in a zone of extremely high seismic risk, and Turkey does not have much time left before a terrible catastrophe, said German scientists from the German Geological Research Center (GFZ) in Potsdam, who named the timing of a new probable earthquake in Istanbul . Marco Bonhoff from the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam is sure that the next major earthquake is just around the corner, and it is most likely to occur in the Istanbul region. “Although the situation in Istanbul has not changed as a result of the latest quakes in the southeast, the risk to the metropolis as a whole is as high as in the currently affected region. The average return period of a strong earthquake in Istanbul is 250 years, and the last major earthquake occurred in 1766, so the next one is long overdue,” explained the German expert. It is difficult to make a forecast with an accuracy of a year, but the probability that a strong earthquake threatens the Istanbul region in the next few years or decades is extremely high. Read more here.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “Colorectal Surgeon Says Why You Should Avoid Colon Cleansing with an Enema.”