Field Data and Some Thoughts on the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes Faults

Abstract

One of the largest earthquakes hits the Kahramanmara & scedil;region and caused a major disaster. Numerous papers based on satellite data and computer modeling have since been published, but the models commonly contradict each other. A long time has passed since then, and the primary purpose of this publication is now to view the main topics, namely, the major fault zones that caused the earthquakes and the tectonic regimes that generated them, based primarily on the field data that has long been ignored. The faults that affected the February 6Kahramanmara & scedil;earthquakes are extensions of the regional-scale strike-slip faults known from Anatolia and its surroundings. These include the East Anatolian Transform Fault, the Dead Sea Transform Fault, the Antakya Transform Fault, the Sar & imath;z-Saimbeyli Mega Shear Zone, the faults of the Foreland Fold-Thrust Belt, and the Karasu Graben boundary faults. The interactions among these faults appear to have increased the magnitude of the earthquakes.