February 6, 2023 Earthquake: Kahramanmaras, Syria, Turkey

Ref #1053:

Tectonic Summary

On February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Turkey near the northern border of Syria. The earthquake was followed 11 minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake resulted from strike-slip faulting at shallow depth. The event ruptured either a near-vertical left-lateral fault striking northeast-southwest, or a right-lateral fault striking southeast-northwest. The preliminary location of the earthquake places it within the vicinity of a triple-junction between the Anatolia, Arabia, and Africa plates. The mechanism and location of the earthquake are consistent with the earthquake having occurred on either the East Anatolia fault zone or the Dead Sea transform fault zone. The East Anatolia fault accommodates the westward extrusion of Turkey into the Aegean Sea, while the Dead Sea Transform accommodates the northward motion of the Arabia peninsula relative to the Africa and Eurasia plates.

Although earthquakes are commonly plotted as single points on a map, they rupture planes that have dimensions. A magnitude 7.8 strike slip earthquake typically ruptures a fault ~190 km long and ~25 km wide. Preliminary finite-fault model estimates suggest a compact source along-strike that extends farther along-dip than typical earthquakes of this size. The main slip asperity in the finite-fault model measures ~100 km long and ~70 km wide.

The region where the February 6 earthquake occurred is seismically active. Only three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger have occurred within 250 km of the February 6 earthquake since 1970. The largest of these, a magnitude 6.7, occurred northeast of the February 6 earthquake on January 24, 2020. All of these earthquakes occurred along or in the vicinity of the East Anatolia fault. Despite the relative seismic quiescence of the epicentral area of the February 6, southern Turkey and northern Syria have experienced significant and damaging earthquakes in the past. Aleppo, in Syria, was devastated several times historically by large earthquakes, though the precise locations and magnitudes of these earthquakes can only be estimated. Aleppo was struck by an estimated magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 1138 and an estimated magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 1822. Fatality estimates of the 1822 earthquake were 20,000-60,000.

(includes effects of magnitude 7.5, 06 Feb 10:24:49 UTC):

In Turkey: 50,783 people were killed (ref #13531) and 103.6 billion USD Total Costs: Damage and Expenditures (83.8 billion USD in damages, Table 66) (ref #13549) 108,000 injured people as of 23 February (ref #13458)

In Syria, as of 02 March, more than 5,914 fatalities and 11,200+ injured people. (ref #13482). Note: Ref#13707 lists 8,476 deaths for Syria. Physical damages and losses related to the Syrian earthquake are estimated at US$3.7 billion and US$1.5 billion, respectively, bringing the total estimated impact to US$5.2 billion. (ref #13548).

Syria: 62,878 Housing Partially Damaged, 24,452 Housing Destroyed. (ref #13548)

Turkey: 131,507 moderately damaged houses, 1,279,727 lightly damaged houses, 518,009 destroyed houses. (ref #13549)

Following the earthquake, a dam collapsed in north-western Syria, causing the overflow of the Orontes River. The flood event led to the displacements of people from the village of Al-Tlul […] In addition, the same source reports, 7,000 evacuated people and 1,000 flooded houses across the nearby villages

[…] scientists estimated that the shear strength of hillsides […] was weakened by 52%–77%. […] “atmospheric river hit the area, triggered significant sediment movement, and killed more than 20 people,” (ref #13989)

Ref #13720: $50 billion losses

Ref #13724: $46.2 billion losses

Ref #1250: $8.9 billion (Syria) and $34 billion (Turkey) in damages