On Monday, February 6, 2023, at 4:17 AM, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck southern Turkey. The epicenter was located 23 km east of Nurdagi in the Gaziantep province of Turkey, with a hypocenter depth of 17.9 km. Later that same day, around 1:24 PM, another earthquake of magnitude 7.5 occurred at a depth of 10 km, with its epicenter near Ekinözü (about 95 km north-northwest of the first earthquake's epicenter). The earthquakes were followed by numerous aftershocks, including three with magnitudes greater than 6, twenty with magnitudes over 5, and more than 100 with magnitudes above 4 \[USGS]. The first earthquake affected a very large region, including 10 Turkish provinces (Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, and Malatya) as well as the northwestern regions of Syria. The total population of these 10 Turkish provinces is approximately 13 million. The earthquakes resulted in significant casualties, injuries, and extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure. By February 10, 2023, the total death toll exceeded 21,000, while 74,242 people were injured \[AFAD 2023b]. As of February 9, 2023, the number of reported collapsed buildings was 6,444 \[AFAD 2023b], representing confirmed structural collapses. Additionally, according to preliminary damage assessments, the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, reported that 12,141 buildings and 66,058 homes were either collapsed or severely damaged \[ntv 2023a]. Rescue teams are currently struggling to extract survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings amid freezing winter conditions.
More information about this earthquake can be found at the following links:
AFAD (2023a). “Feb. 6th, 2023 Pazarcık (Kahramanmaras MW 7.7) and Elbistan (Kahramanmaras MW 7.6) Earthquakes Preliminary Report”. Feb. 9th, 2023.
https://deprem.afad.gov.tr/assets/pdf/Kahramanmaras%20%20Depremleri_%20On%20Degerlendirme%20Raporu.pdf [Date accessed: February 10, 2023] AFAD (2023b). “BASIN BULTENI”
https://www.afad.gov.tr/kahramanmarasta-meydana-gelen-depremler-hkbasin-bulteni21 [Date accessed: February 9, 2023]
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jlqa/executive
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jllz/executive
https://www.eeri.org/about-eeri/news/14872-eeri-response-to-m7-8-and-m7-5-earthquakes-in-southern-turkey
https://eerc.metu.edu.tr/en/system/files/documents/DMAM_Report_2023_Kahramanmaras-Pazarcik_and_Elbistan_Earthquakes_Report_final_ENG.pdf
https://eerc.metu.edu.tr/en/system/files/documents/CH4_Strong_Ground_Motion_Report_2023-02-20.pdf
