News

Durham scientist warns of aftershock danger following Turkish earthquake

(8 March 2010)

Aftershocks "could last for days" following the Turkish earthquake, according to a Durham University expert.

Professor Bob Holdsworth of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience and the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University, said: "Aftershocks could last for days and this is a particular danger for people whose homes have been damaged by the earthquake.

"Aftershocks occur close to the location of the main earthquake due to the release of residual stresses in the Earth's crust. They typically decrease in intensity over time in a fairly predictable way.

"The earthquake epicentre is close to the intersection of two major active fault zones in Turkey that have a long history of seismic activity.

"Tectonically, the region lies at the convergence point of three major tectonic plates, with faulting being driven by the northward collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates, squeezing the western Turkish peninsula - the Anatolian plate - westwards out in to the Mediterranean Sea.

"The historical record of Turkey, and indeed the entire Eastern Mediterranean region, is punctuated by catastrophic events related to major earthquakes and this event is simply the most recent manifestation of this tectonic activity."