DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY

 DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY

 

Nikunja Bihari Sahu

 

          A 7.8 magnitude earthquake, relatively huge on the Richter scale, struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, in the early hours of February 6  causing widespread devastation to life and property unprecedented in recent times with the death toll predicted to touch 50,000 in coming days. This was followed by more than 6000 aftershocks with 40  of them within the deadly 5 to 6 magnitudes range.  Two powerful quakes of 7.6 and 6  magnitudes also struck the same region on the same day in the aftermath of the incident. The series of earthquakes killed more than 48,000 people to date, destroyed more than one lakh buildings and left a million people homeless. These earthquakes are estimated to have caused nearly $84.1 billion worth of damage to property, ranking them the fourth deadliest earthquake on record. According to the UN, which has been carrying out  the biggest relief and rescue operation in the last 75 years, estimated that nearly 2 crores 60 lakh people were in need of immediate help. It was the deadliest natural disaster in Turkey's modern history! The impact was felt as far as Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and the Black Sea coast of Turkey.

 

   To make matters worse, another powerful earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria very recently on the 20th evening, trapping more people under collapsed buildings. One may recall that in the recent past, two devastating  6.1 magnitude earthquakes also rattled  Afghanistan and Iran on June 22. Around 5 lakh quakes occur every year around the globe out of which only 100 quakes are really catastrophic. The strongest earthquake in history occurred in Chile in 1960 measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale which killed nearly 6000 people. The most devastating quake in India happened on 15 January 1934 in Bihar with an intensity of 8.1 that killed around 30,000 people. The earthquake that shook North America in 1811 was so powerful that the river Mississippi started flowing backward. The most dangerous landslide event triggered due to an earthquake was in China in 1920 which killed around 2 lakh people. A powerful quake struck Peru in 1970 that triggered a deadly avalanche that moved at an alarming pace of 400 km/hr killing 18,000 people.  An undersea earthquake near Indonesia in 2004 triggered violent tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean that killed nearly 2.30 lakh people and lasted for a record time of 10 minutes. While intensities below 5 in the Richter scale cause little damage to the window sills and furniture, intensities from 5 to 7 could lead to the collapse of houses beyond which bridges and other heavy structures cave in leading to complete destruction.

       Earthquakes occur when there is a sudden movement along the fractures of the  Tectonic Plates that make up our Earth's surface. These Plates are in constant motion relative to one another and might subduct, spread, slip or collide along their boundaries called Fault zones. As the Plates grind together, they get stuck building up  enormous pressure. Finally, the pressure becomes so great that they break loose producing tremendous vibration on the Earth's surface. There are three types of Tectonic Faults: Normal Fault, Reverse Fault and Strike-Slip Fault. While in a Normal Fault, the rock layers above the Fault plane move down relative to the layers below, in a  Reverse Fault, the rocks move up relative to the other layers below. However, in a Strike-Slip Fault, the two Plates move past each other releasing the built-up strain. The recent Turkey earthquake is speculated to have been caused due to the movement of one such Strike-Slip Fault.

      The region in the Middle East happens to be highly vulnerable to the occurrence of earthquakes, as the location lies near the junction of three major Plates namely, the Anatolian, Arabian, and African Plates. The recent earthquake probably occurred in either the East Anatolian Fault or the Dead Sea Transform. The East Anatolian Fault accommodates the westward extrusion of Turkey into the Aegean Sea, while the Dead Sea Transform accommodates the northward motion of the Arabian Peninsula, relative to the Africa and Eurasia Plates. Unlike along the North Anatolian Plate which produced 11 large earthquakes during the 20th century, the East Anatolian Fault was seismically quiet. This Plate has some segments identified as Seismic gaps which are actually active Fault zones known to produce significant earthquakes that have not slipped in an unusually long time, compared with other segments along the same structure. Hence,  an earthquake in this region was long due! Major earthquakes to have occurred in the region were in 836 AD, 1033 AD, and 1754 AD which resulted in 200,000, 70,000 and 40,000 deaths respectively. 

        Unfortunately, like other natural calamities like floods and cyclones, the occurrence of earthquakes cannot be predicted and, hence, an early warning cannot be issued. Hence,  the only option available is to mitigate its impacts by greater human preparedness, efficient relief and rescue operation, and designing earthquake-proof houses.

                                                                                                     Education Officer

                                                                                                 Regional Science Centre

                                                                                                           Bhopal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 To read the same article published in the Editorial Page of the Orissa Post ( dated 27.02.23), please click the following link : http://odishapostepaper.com/m/195772/63fbd93a99c72