Jagged fractures have been broadly noticed and raised issues among the many public following the dual earthquakes in Türkiye’s southeast, however they are going to quickly disappear, an knowledgeable stated.
”Surface fractures will disappear after some time with the impact of precipitation, however morphologically, they are going to live on. In the floor fractures, the fault splinters. We can clearly observe this within the Nurdağı half, in Fevzipaşa. It is linear within the Pazarcık area however splintered in some locations. It is the form of the fault,” defined professor Çağlar Özkaymak, director of the Afyon Kocatepe University Earthquake Application and Research Center.
The twin earthquakes that struck Türkiye’s Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık and Elbistan provinces inside lower than 10 hours of one another on Feb. 6 marked the most important quakes in Türkiye in practically a century, leaving greater than 38,000 useless, in keeping with the newest official figures. The earthquake that instantly affected at the least 13.5 million folks brought on main harm to buildings, fuel and power infrastructure whereas additionally transferring roads, railways and fields as a result of its power.
“The first earthquake caused hundreds of kilometers of fractures between Hatay, Adıyaman and Malatya. We mapped them and in our observations, we saw the movements of the Anatolian block. This was caused by the first shock of the earthquake, which is called the surface rupture,” Özkaymak instructed Anadolu Agency (AA).
“In addition, there is a linear fault line between Antakya and Malatya stretching for a distance of about 300 kilometers (186.4 miles). There is also a fault line with widths reaching 50 meters (164.04 feet) in places and in some places, it broke through to the surface,” he defined.
Pointing out that geographical modifications will be brought on by the mixture of gravity and the movement of the quake, Özkaymak defined that giant boulders will be shaken free, resulting in landslides.
”This may cause massive crevices and valleys to type as we noticed in Antakya. These are landslides that usually transfer right into a valley. Thousands of comparable landslides happen in such highly effective earthquakes.”
Referring to the suspicion of volcanic exercise on Göksun Kuşkayası Mountain in Kahramanmaraş, the professor additionally defined that with the prevalence of the earthquakes and the aftershocks, the impact was really created when rocks in excessive areas fell down alongside the valley.
”There is an space that appears darkish from afar, however after we went inside, we noticed that there was no move of volcanic lava however as an alternative disturbed soil. As said earlier, this area isn’t a volcanic space anyway, it is a area of sedimentary rocks. The rocks add to disruption of soil once they fall, making it appear to be the move of volcanic exercise.”
Water ranges
Evaluating the rise within the sea stage in Iskenderun after the earthquake, Özkaymak additionally famous that the Earth’s crust shook with the earthquake, resulting in a fluctuation within the waters within the area. This is a typical state of affairs after earthquakes, he stated.
Özkaymak additionally drew consideration to the water sources positioned within the rocks or within the fault strains underground: “Some water sources may be cut off, some may increase in flow, some waters may mix with the hot water coming from underground and get warmer, or the existing hot water may mix with cold water. The chemical properties of the water may change over time.”
However, the prevalence of such occasions is regular. “It will stabilize within a few weeks. It is not something to cause panic. It is a normal situation that is often observed after earthquakes,” he added.
“The water levels will rebalance soon,” he assured.
On the opposite hand, talking about soil liquefaction, Özkaymak stated: “If the groundwater level is high after the earthquake, the sandy material that adds to the running water sediments in flat areas, such as the Amik Plain, rises with the decrease of friction and the ground behaves like a swamp. Underground sand comes to the surface with water. Underground water is up to 14 meters from the soil. This is a normal phenomenon that is often observed in areas such as the Amik Plain. Our fault is that we build our cities in alluvial regions, so the first two floors of the buildings are buried in the ground tipped over on their side.”
Maintaining that the fractures on the floor had been really the reflection of the fault line, the professor defined that the fracture ”with linear continuity begins from Hatay’s Kırıkhan district within the south, goes to Hassa, Islahiye, Nurdağı, Türkoğlu, then strikes to Gölbaşı from the south of Kahramanmaraş, after which turns to Adıyaman Çelikhan.”
Under the coordination of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the crew comprising Afyon Kocatepe University Earthquake Application and Research Center Director professor Çağlar Özkaymak, Dokuz Eylül University Earthquake Research and Application Center Director professor Hasan Sözbilir and Osmangazi University Geological Engineering Department professor Volkan Karabacak examined the floor deformations noticed within the area after the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes – that are described because the “disaster of the century.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
