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The 1971 Bingöl earthquake was a 6.6 earthquake that occurred at on 22 May. It had a
Most of Turkey lies on the
The Bingöl earthquake fault and its relation to the North Anatolian Fault Zone
''Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration'', 79 (79), 1–12.
surface-wave magnitude
The surface wave magnitude (M_s) scale is one of the magnitude scales used in seismology to describe the size of an earthquake. It is based on measurements of Rayleigh surface waves that travel along the uppermost layers of the Earth. This ma ...
of 6.9 and a maximum intensity of VIII (''Severe'') on the Mercalli intensity scale
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
, killing 755–1,000 people.
Tectonic setting
Most of Turkey lies on the Anatolian Plate
The Anatolian Plate is a continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsula (and the country of Turkey).
To the east, the East Anatolian Fault, a left lateral transform fault, forms a boundary with the Arabian Pla ...
. Deformation from is accommodated through three main faults: the eastern portion of the Hellenic Trench accommodates convergence between the Aegean Sea Plate
The Aegean Sea Plate (also called the Hellenic Plate or Aegean Plate) is a small tectonic plate located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea under southern Greece and western Turkey. Its southern edge is the Hellenic subduction zone south of Crete, ...
and the Anatolian Plate in the south, the North Anatolian Fault in the north accommodates the collision between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate which forces the Anatolian west, and the East Anatolian Fault in the east, on which this earthquake occurred, accommodates the same deformation.
Earthquake
The 6.6 earthquake struck near the city of Bingöl, Turkey at 18:44 local time. The depth it struck at varies depending on the agency, but it is agreed to be very shallow. The estimates are between and . The focal mechanism was likely strike-slip as this earthquake occurred on the East Anatolian Fault. There were two magnitude 5.1 aftershocks on the day of the mainshock. The mainshock ruptured along a × area of the East Anatolian Fault. A second rupture area measuring × was detected to the northeast. The two rupture areas produced maximum slips of and , respectively.Damage
The earthquake killed at least 755 people and injured 1,200 more. In Bingöl, 90 percent of buildings were destroyed, including the prison and hospital. It caused a total of $5 million USD in damage.See also
*List of earthquakes in 1971
This is a list of earthquakes in 1971. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, injury or damage. Events which occurred in remote areas will be excluded from th ...
* List of earthquakes in Turkey
References
Further reading
*Seymen, İ. & Aydın, A. (1972)The Bingöl earthquake fault and its relation to the North Anatolian Fault Zone
''Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration'', 79 (79), 1–12.
External links
* 1971 Bingöl 1971 earthquakes 1971 in Turkey History of Bingöl Province May 1971 events in Asia 1971 disasters in Turkey {{Turkey-hist-stub