Istanbul Earthquake – Greek Prof. Concerned Major Quake Yet to Strike

Following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Istanbul, Turkey, Greek professor of seismology Kostas Papazachos expressed heightened concerns that a more powerful quake could be forthcoming in the region.

Speaking to public broadcaster ERTNews, the professor of seismology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki emphasized that “earthquakes in the range of 7.0 to 7.4 magnitude have repeatedly struck the area,” referencing particularly the devastating quake of 1509 that resulted in numerous casualties.

Discussing yesterday’s quake, which has been followed by a string of over 130 aftershocks, Papazachos noted that the largest aftershock so far has reached 5.5 magnitude. “It’s a prolific sequence, and it will be studied further in the coming days,” he said.

When asked whether the 6.2 magnitude quake was the main event, he responded, “The sequence stretches along about 20 kilometers, which aligns with a mainshock of that size, and we haven’t seen the activation of adjacent faults. That’s encouraging, but it’s still too early to draw conclusions.”

The professor pointed out that Istanbul, a vast urban and industrial hub, was affected even by yesterday’s 6.2 tremor: “Imagine what a 7.2 or 7.4 magnitude quake would do if it occurred closer to the city,” he noted. He highlighted that the fault segment near Istanbul has not ruptured since 1766, when a 7.1 magnitude quake occurred. He went on to stress that for the past 300 years, a larger earthquake over 7 on the Richter scale had not been recorded, warning that seismic energy in that part of the fault had not been released. “The region, in a sense, ‘owed’ a major earthquake,” he noted.

The professor underlined that these concerns about the Istanbul earthquake were shared by the global scientific community, which is closely monitoring the seismic sequence along the North Anatolian Fault.

“International studies and simulations all point to the same conclusion: that the impact on Istanbul could be disproportionately severe due to its dense construction and the poor quality of many buildings,” he warned.

Responding to concerns over whether a potential major quake in Istanbul could affect Greece, Papazachos was reassuring: “The fault extends as far as Lemnos and the Northern Sporades, but it doesn’t rupture all at once. An earthquake in Istanbul doesn’t have the capacity to directly affect Greek territory.”

Source: Tovima.com