According to satellite images, a 300km-long crack occurred in the earth’s crust after a devastating earthquake centered in Kahramanmaras
The effect of the earthquake that shook Kahramanmaras Pazarcik on Monday, February 6 and affected 10 provinces still continues. According to satellite images, after two powerful earthquakes in which we lost more than 31,600 lives, two huge cracks appeared near the Turkish-Syrian border.
Researchers found the ruptures by comparing images of the region near the Mediterranean coast by the European Earth observation satellite Sentinel-1 before and after devastating earthquakes.
The longer of the two breaks stretches for 300 kilometers from the northeast end of the Mediterranean Sea in the northeast direction. The crack was formed by the stronger 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck at 04:17, the first of two major tremors that swept the area on Monday. It was recorded that the second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6, which happened about nine hours later, also created a 125 km long crack.
Professor Tim Wright, who leads the Comet (UK Center for Earthquake, Volcano and Tectonic Observation and Modeling) team, says such breaks often occur after strong earthquakes. However, he adds that these two rifts are unusually long, and earthquakes also release enormous amounts of energy. “The bigger the earthquake, the bigger the fault and the more it shifts. This earthquake fault is one of the longest recorded in solids. It’s also very unusual for two earthquakes of this magnitude to occur within a few hours.” Wright said.
Photos of the surface cracks confirming what the satellites have observed from space are also shared on social media:
Since three tectonic plates (Anatolian, African and Arabian plates) come together in this region in the north of Cyprus, it is inevitable to experience very severe earthquakes. According to experts, the earthquakes that occurred on Monday left a devastating effect. More than 31,600 deaths have been reported and rescue operations are still ongoing.
