On 13 March, the 1992 Erzincan earthquake struck eastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
with a
moment magnitude
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
of 6.7 and a maximum
Mercalli intensity
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 ...
of VIII (''Severe''). Originating on the
North Anatolian Fault
The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) ( tr, Kuzey Anadolu Fay Hattı) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia, and is the transform boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Plate. The fault extends westward fro ...
, it rocked the country, leaving at least 498 people dead, roughly 2,000 injured, and an unknown amount missing. Total financial losses were between $13.5 million and $750 million
(US Dollars).
Geology
![Anatolian Plate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Anatolian_Plate.png)
Most of Turkey lies on the
Anatolian Plate. Deformation from is accommodated through three main faults: the eastern portion of the
Hellenic Trench
The Hellenic Trench (HT) is an oceanic trough located in the forearc of the Hellenic Arc, an arcuate archipelago on the southern margin of the Aegean Sea Plate, or Aegean Plate, also called Aegea, the basement of the Aegean Sea. The HT begin ...
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
The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) ( tr, Kuzey Anadolu Fay Hattı) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia, and is the transform boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Plate. The fault extends westward fro ...
in the north, along which this earthquake occurred, accommodates the deformation between the
Anatolian Plate and the
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...
which forces the Anatolian west, and the
East Anatolian Fault
The East Anatolian Fault ( tr, Doğu Anadolu Fay Hattı) is a major strike-slip fault zone in eastern Turkey. It forms the transform type tectonic boundary between the Anatolian Plate and the northward-moving Arabian Plate. The difference in t ...
in the east accommodates the same deformation. The
Erzincan
Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...
basin lies on the intersection of this fault on its northern side.
Earthquake
At 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale, the earthquake was designated as "strong". While the shaking lasted for seven seconds, the maximum
Modified Mercalli intensity was officially VIII, and a station near the epicenter recorded IX shaking.
The
focal mechanism indicated strike slip faulting, and rupture is estimated to have been long with a maximum slip of .
More than 3,000
aftershocks rocked the area afterwards.
Aftermath
The quake left at least 498 killed, 2000 injured, collapsed 150 buildings, and damaged over 8000 homes.
The provision of housing following the earthquake is now listed by the Chamber of Civil Engineers in Turkey as one of
Fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey. A temporary group of 10
seismographs were set up in the area to monitor aftershocks.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 1992
*
List of earthquakes in Turkey
This is a list of earthquakes in Turkey, including any notable historical earthquakes that have epicenters within the current boundaries of Turkey, or which caused significant effects in this area. Overall, the population in major cities like Ist ...
References
Further reading
*
*Williams, M.S. & Pomonis, A. & Booth, E.D. & Vaciago, G. & Ring, S. (1992)
The Erzincan, Turkey Earthquake of March 1992: A Filed Report by EEFIT.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erzincan 1992
1992 earthquakes
1992 Erzincan
1992 in Turkey
History of Erzincan Province
March 1992 events in Turkey
1992 disasters in Turkey