Complex multi-fault rupture and triggerig during the 2023 earthquake doublet in southeastern Türkiye

A paper by our faculty member Prof. Dr. Tuncay Taymaz on the earthquake that occurred in the Southeastern Region has been published in the journal 'Nature Communications'.

Article Title: Complex multi-fault rupture and triggering during the 2023 earthquake doublet in southeastern Türkiye

Authors: Chengli Liu, Thorne Lay, Rongjiang Wang, Tuncay Taymaz, Zujun Xie, Xiong Xiong, Tahir Serkan Irmak, Metin Kahraman & Ceyhun Erman

Two major earthquakes (MW 7.8 and MW 7.7) ruptured left-lateral strike-slip faults of the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) on February 6, 2023, causing >59,000 fatalities and ~$119B in damage in southeastern Türkiye and northwestern Syria. Here we derived kinematic rupture models for the two events by inverting extensive seismic and geodetic observations using complex 5-6 segment fault models constrained by satellite observations and relocated aftershocks. The larger event nucleated on a splay fault, and then propagated bilaterally ~350 km along the main EAFZ strand. The rupture speed varied from 2.5-4.5 km/s, and peak slip was ~8.1 m. 9-h later, the second event ruptured ~160 km along the curved northern EAFZ strand, with early bilateral supershear rupture velocity (>4 km/s) followed by a slower rupture speed (~3 km/s). Coulomb Failure stress increase imparted by the first event indicates plausible triggering of the doublet aftershock, along with loading of neighboring faults.

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