Thousands have been killed in Turkey and Syria after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border Monday morning – the strongest earthquake to strike the country since 1939. A 6.7 magnitude aftershock struck just 11 minutes after the first. Buildings were toppled with dozens of aftershocks following the first. Another 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Monday afternoon. Dozens of aftershocks have crumbled buildings and slowed rescue efforts in the region.
These earthquakes occurred in the East Anatolian fault zone. This fault is a strike-slip, which means there is a fracture in the earth’s crust that slide past each other on a parallel track. The San Andreas fault zone is an example of a strike-slip fault.
This region of Turkey is known to be seismically active. However, according to USGS, just 3 earthquakes of 6.0+ magnitude have occurred in this region since 1970. There have been four 6.0+ magnitude earthquakes on Monday alone.
