The Devastating 6 February, 2023 Mw=7.8 and Mw=7.6 Earthquake Doublet in Southeastern Türkiye (Turkey)

On 6 February, 2023 at 01:17:35 UTC an earthquake of Mw=7.8 occurred in southeastern Türkiye. A second major earthquake of Mw=7.6, triggered by the first one, occurred nine hours later, 90 km north of the first earthquake’s epicenter. These major doublet earthquakes devastated eleven provinces in southeastern Türkiye, which occupy about 110,000 km2 area with a population of 14 million. These earthquakes caused the deaths of more than 57,000 people and more than 107.000 people were injured in Türkiye and Syria. These doublet earthquakes occurred in an area where Eurasian, Arabian and African Plates form a triple junction: the Maraş Triple Junction (MTJ). The 580 km long, NE-SW trending, left-lateral strike-slip East Anatolian Fault (EAF) forms the tectonic boundary between the Anatolian Block and the Arabian Plate. The 1.000 km long, N-S trending, left-lateral strike-slip Dead Sea Fault (DSF) forms the tectonic boundary between the African and Arabian Plates. These two major faults intersect at the Maraş Triple Junction.

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