For a UAF seismologist, the Turkey earthquake is personal
Rod Boyce
907-474-7185
Feb. 21, 2023
Ezgi Karas枚zen, a University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Geophysical Institute research seismologist, was packing for a trip from her home in Colorado to Anchorage on a Sunday afternoon when her husband, Onur, came in.
There had been a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake, he told her. She thought for a brief moment that he was telling her about a quake in 色视频下载, her destination.
色视频下载 Earthquake Center research seismologist Ezgi Karas枚zen displays a map of earthquake activity in a computer application named Earthquake.
No, he said, it had just struck their native Turkey and northern Syria, both 12 hours ahead of 色视频下载.
色视频下载淗e told me the magnitude and I was like, just wait a second, can it be 7.8? Is the magnitude correct? Is it going to be bigger? How did they estimate it?色视频下载
That was the seismologist in her. She soon learned the early morning quake occurred on a major fault, one she knew from her own research to be of a kind that can lead to catastrophic damage.
An email alert soon arrived from the U.S. Geological Survey confirming the 7.8 magnitude.
色视频下载淎nd then I burst into tears,色视频下载 she said.
Those tears quickly turned to frustration and anger that she poured into her Twitter account that same day.
色视频下载淚 am speechless. News from Turkey are heartbreaking. 17 August 99 was when I learnt what an earthquake was. And after so many years studying them, that footage never left me. Now we are reliving it. Again. So many people are waiting to be rescued. Cok cok uzgunum.色视频下载
That simple last Turkish phrase, cok cok uzgunum, translates in English to four words in which you can feel her pain.
色视频下载淚 am so sorry.色视频下载
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Karas枚zen, born in Ankara, Turkey色视频下载檚 capital, knows her nation well, having lived there most of her life. She and Onur have friends and family there. His mother is from Kahramanmaras, just 14 miles from the main earthquake色视频下载檚 epicenter, though she lives in Ankara now.
Karas枚zen also knows Turkey色视频下载檚 land and the tremendous seismic activity it sees, for Turkey is a place where some of Earth色视频下载檚 many crustal plates collide.
The nation sits primarily on the Anatolian Block, a relatively small crustal fragment when compared to Earth色视频下载檚 major plates. It is moving slowly westward to the south of the Eurasian Plate in the vicinity of Greece and the Black Sea.
During a 2013 research trip in the Kutahya region of western Turkey, Ezgi Karas枚zen leans on the fault scarp left by the 1970 magnitude 7.2 Gediz earthquake.
Turkey色视频下载檚 southeast is on the northern reaches of the Arabian Plate, moving incrementally northward and pushing into the Anatolian Block.
It is there, along the East Anatolian Fault, that those two plates collide in what seismologists call a strike-slip fault. Tension builds where the moving plates meet and lock, accumulating until they break free of one another and produce an earthquake.
Karas枚zen is well familiar with the East Anatolian Fault. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake, the largest on the fault in more than a century, occurred on Jan. 24, 2020. She is among the co-authors of a 2020 research paper in the journal that studied the fault色视频下载檚 motions during and after that earthquake and the aftershock sequence.
The research paper notes that scientists know little about the East Anatolian Fault because of the relative scarcity of large magnitude earthquakes there. They know much more about the North Anatolian Fault.
The research paper adds that understanding the East Anatolian Fault is 色视频下载渋mportant for seismic hazard assessment in this region.色视频下载
Karas枚zen was lead author on two other research papers studying recent earthquake sequences in western Turkey.
Her 2018 paper, published in , investigated the July 20, 2017, magnitude 6.6 earthquake that originated in southwest Turkey. The quake injured approximately 70 people in the port city of Bodrum. Two people died on the Greek island of Kos, 20 miles from Bodrum across the Mediterranean Sea, where people reported an intense quake.
Her 2016 paper in the analyzed 50 years of notable seismic activity in the Simav-Gediz region of western Turkey.
That paper, for which she spent time in the field, notes that western Turkey has an extensive record of major earthquakes. It refers to the area as 色视频下载渁 rapidly extending continental region with a long history of destructive normal faulting earthquakes, including several large instrumentally recorded events.色视频下载
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Karas枚zen色视频下载檚 first tweet upon hearing of the Feb. 6 earthquake makes reference to a childhood earthquake: 色视频下载17 August 99 was when I learnt what an earthquake was.色视频下载
A shallow magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred at 3 a.m. that August day.
The earthquake caused considerable damage as far away as Istanbul, about 45 miles away from the epicenter.
Estimates put the death toll at about 17,000 people.
Karas枚zen was 13 and living in Ankara when security personnel knocked on the door of their campus housing at Middle East Technical University, where her father, Bulent Karas枚zen, was a math professor, and told them to go outside. She later did her undergraduate studies in geological engineering at the same university.
色视频下载淚 can色视频下载檛 forget the footage that I saw on the news that day,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淚 think we were all traumatized by that as a generation.色视频下载
色视频下载 Earthquake Center research seismologist Ezgi Karas枚zen describes the fault activity from the recent devastating earthquake in Turkey.
With this month色视频下载檚 earthquake, she quickly suspected the outcome would be the same. Thousands dead. Buildings turned to rubble.
The Feb. 6 quake and one that followed a few hours later killed an estimated 46,000 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria, according to the latest estimate.
Turkey色视频下载檚 seismologists and engineers are as good as the best, Karas枚zen said. She knows many of them.
色视频下载淟ots of good civil engineers, structural engineers, top-notch scientists, people who are trying to do whatever they can to provide the best information,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淭urkey is an earthquake-prone country, they know where the areas of potential damage are, they know what to do.色视频下载
That knowledge, however, hasn色视频下载檛 resulted in stronger buildings and greater earthquake preparedness, she said. And that fuels her frustration.
色视频下载淭here's something not happening,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淭hat seismic and engineering knowledge isn色视频下载檛 connecting to actually make things more resilient.
色视频下载淲e have the building codes, but still all those buildings collapse,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淲hy do we have to go through this again after 23 years? We could have done much better. Seismologists and engineers did our part.
色视频下载淲hy do we have to live through this again?色视频下载
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Back in Colorado, where Karas枚zen and her husband have a home, volunteers with the nonprofit quickly organized relief efforts in the state.
Karas枚zen is the organization色视频下载檚 president.
A truckload of donated items, including sleeping bags and mats, has arrived in Los Angeles for shipment to Turkey. Three more loads are ready to be shipped. Lots of truck drivers have volunteered to transport items, she said.
The organization has also raised close to $60,000 in cash.
色视频下载淟ots of communities are coming together in Colorado to help us,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淚t brings tears to our eyes.色视频下载
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Ezgi Karas枚zen, ekarasozen@alaska.edu
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