Zeynep Dilara Akyürek / Milliyet.com.tr – Adana and Osmaniye were shaken by successive earthquakes of 4.8, 4.9 and 5.1 magnitude. While these earthquakes, which occurred one after the other in a short time, created concern in the region, citizens asked "Is a larger earthquake expected?" He started looking for the answer to the question. Geological Engineer Prof. explains the curiosities about the subject and the geological structure of the region. Dr. Şener Üşümezsoy evaluated it for Milliyet.com.tr. Prof. Dr. In his recent statements, Şener Üşümezsoy drew attention to the region and explained why and how such earthquakes occur. After the 3 earthquakes today, Prof. Dr. Şener Üşümezsoy explained the details to Milliyet.com.tr.
'VERY BUT SMALL EARTHQUAKES MAY OCCUR IN ADANA'
Speaking about the successive earthquakes in Adana today, Prof. Dr. Şener Üşümezsoy had previously warned about what might happen in the region. However, with the earthquakes experienced today, Prof. Dr. The faulting and seismicity that Üşümezsoy mentioned made themselves felt once again. So, could these tremors in Adana and Osmaniye be a sign of a major earthquake? Prof. Dr. Şener Üşümezsoy explains:
"In Adana, the faults on the Saimbeyli-Feke line and the Sarız-Tufanbeyli line to the north of it appear as faults that intersect each other in two directions and are fragmented and intersecting each other instead of a single long fault. This structure looks like a mosaic dome, resembling a glass broken into many small pieces instead of large pieces. The block called the Adana roof actually forms the basis of the Adana basin: Çardak in the east, Göksun fault in the north and Gürün in the west." There are Sarız and Tufanbeyli faults to the north of Ecemiş. This does not mean expecting a major earthquake in the region, because the adhesion surfaces of these faults are small. For example, while a magnitude 7 earthquake is expected on the adhesion surface of 1000 square kilometers, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 is expected in 500 square kilometers, and these faults that form a dome over Adana are not even 100 kilometers long. "Although segmented faults produce earthquakes frequently, they produce small earthquakes. We expect earthquakes like today."
'IT IS SPINNING COUNTER-CLOCKLY LIKE A TOP, THE FAULTS ARE CROSSING EACH OTHER'
The fault structure in Adana has been a subject of debate for many years, and it was even said that this structure was a continuation of the fault that caused the February 6 Earthquakes. However, Prof. Dr. According to Şener Üşümezsoy, from the beginning, the ruptures in this region were not a continuation of the Eastern Anatolian fault, but were triggered by other faults. The February 6 earthquakes were also mentioned by Prof. Dr. This confirmed Şener Üşümezsoy's thesis and after Kahramanmaraş, the fault was heading towards Hatay instead of Adana. The fault structure in Adana has very different characteristics and is developed by Prof. Dr. According to Şener Üşümezsoy, it was a mosaic that moved like a top. Prof. Dr. Şener Üşümezsoy compared the faults that caused the earthquake in Adana to the "spinning of a top" and explained:
