A Statistical Analysis of the Major and Microearthquakes Along the East-Anatolian Fault

Abstract

In order to evaluate past and present earthquake activity along the East Anatolian Fault between Karliova and Maras, the distribution in time and space of earthquakes was investigated. The investigation dealt with an interval of 75 years for largemagnitude earthquakes, and with a period of 105 days for microearthquakes occurring in a limited area. The most active regions of the fault zone are around Bingol in the north, the Lake Hazar in the middle, and Adiyaman in the south. Along the fault zone the average Richter magnitude of earthquakes is about 5, the hypocentral depth about 25 kilometers, the period of occurrence (determined by spectral analysis) about 11 years, and the b-value for the magnitude range of 7>M>4 approximately 0.5.