1. Name: Nur UMUTLU
2. Organization: Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, General Directorate of disaster Affairs, Earthquake Research Department, Ankara - Turkey
3. Course: 2000-2001 (ID : J-00-00634)
4. Title: The Seismotectonics of Turkey and The August 17, 1999 Izmit Earthquake
5.
Abstract:
Turkey has frequently suffered from major damaging earthquakes in this century. Approximately 7000 events with magnitudes equal to and greater than 4.0 (Ms) are
recorded between 1900 and 2000. Epicenters of these earthquakes are particularly
concentrated on the well-known active tectonic lines. Furthermore, in the past century
120 moderate and large earthquakes, some of them caused considerable surface faulting,
happened all over main tectonic provinces of Turkey. Of these earthquakes, the Erzincan
quake (Ms=7.9) which is the biggest earthquake of Turkey, happened in 26 December
1939, producing 360 km surface faulting from Erzincan through Erbaa to Amasya on the
North Anatolian fault (Ambraseys 1970; Ketin 1976). This earthquake causing 32 962
loss of life was accompanied with 4.5 m right lateral coseismic slip near the middle part
of the rupture. Eight large earthquakes (Ms>_7.0) occurred on the North Anatolian fault
zone in the period from 1939 through 1999. In this paper, we are going to give some
information seismotectonics of Turkey and also some calculated and observed results
concerning to the August 17, 1999 Izmit earthquake.