TECTONIC DISASTER

A POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE FOLLOWED BY A SERIES OF AFTERSHOCKS, THREE OF THEM ABOVE 6.0 MAGNITUDE, HAVE CAUSED MAJOR DEVASTATION IN TÜRKIYE AND SYRIA. INDIA HAS EXTENDED IMMEDIATE HELP TO DEAL WITH THE DISASTER AND SENT IN RELIEF AND RESCUE TEAMS, EQUIPMENT AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO BOTH COUNTRIES

- BHUPENDRA KUMAR SULLERE

Earthquakes of devastating proportions occurred in the southeast of Türkiye, near the border with Syria on February 6, 2023. Data from seismometers, which measure the shaking of the ground due to an earthquake, suggest the powerful event (seismic waves) was caught by sensors around the world. You can witness the seismic waves ripple across Europe, encompassing affected places as far away as the UK.

The tremors have had dire ramifications, devastating the people and the infrastructure in the region. More than 11,000 people are confirmed dead and thousands of buildings have been dashed to the ground in Türkiye and Syria till the time of writing. Also, there are reports of gas pipelines catching fire.

PRONE TO EARTHQUAKES

This region of Türkiye is prone to earthquakes, because it lies at the intersection of three tectonic plates–that make up the earth's crust. The Anatolian, Arabian, and African plates. Arabia is moving north towards Europe, causing the Anatolian Plate (on which Türkiye is located) to be pushed West. The movement of tectonic plates exerts pressure on fault zones at their boundaries. It is the sudden occurrence of this pressure which causes earthquakes and the unprecedented shaking of the ground.

The latest earthquake is likely to have occurred on one of the major faults marking the boundaries between the Anatolian and Arabian plates: either the East Anatolian Fault or the Dead Sea Transform Fault. These are both "strike-slip faults", meaning that these accommodate some of the motion of plates moving past one another.