Why Turkey is prone to devastating earthquakes?

GS1/GS3

Syllabus: Disaster Management

Source: The Hindu, Indian Express

 Context: Three earthquakes measuring — 7.8, 7.6, and 6.0 — magnitude on the Richter scale have devastated Turkey and Syria, while impacting regions as far away as Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt.

Turkey has announced a Level 4 alert calling for international aid; U.S., European Union, Russia, and Azerbaijan have reportedly dispatched aid.

 Why is Turkey prone to Earthquakes?

• In the region of Turkey, Syria, and Jordan, tectonics are dominated by complex interactions between the African, Arabian, and Eurasian tectonic plates, and the Anatolian tectonic block.
• Other factors:
  • Red Sea Rift, the spreading centre between the African and Arabian plates;
  • Dead Sea Transform, a major strike-slip fault that also accommodates Africa-Arabia relative motions;
  • North Anatolia Fault, a right-lateral strike-slip structure in northern Turkey accommodating much of the translational motion of the Anatolia block westwards with respect to Eurasia and Africa;
  • Cyprian Arc, a convergent boundary between the African plate and the Anatolia block.

What are aftershocks and why do they occur?

• Aftershocks are a sequence of earthquakes that happen after a larger main shock on a fault. They occur near the fault zone where the main shock rupture occurred and are part of the “readjustment process” after the main slip on the fault.
• While they become less frequent with time, they can continue for days, weeks, months, or even years for a very large main shock.

Insta Links:

Earthquakes in India

Mains Link:

Q. Discuss about the vulnerability of India to earthquake-related hazards. Give examples including the salient features of major disasters caused by earthquakes in different parts of India during the last three decades. – UPSC 2021

Q. The frequency of earthquakes appears to have increased in the Indian subcontinent. However, India’s preparedness for mitigating its impact has significant gaps. Discuss various aspects. – UPSC 2015

Prelim Links