Is it normal that Turkey is getting rocked like this with aftershocks.

I know after shocks are normal, but there are quite a bit of them and they are all between 4-6 in magnitude and it does not look like they are slowing down or going down in magnitude.

earthquake.usgs.gov...


MAP 4.9 2011/10/29 22:24:24 38.750 43.591 10.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/29 18:45:51 38.525 43.284 16.9 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/29 03:52:44 38.504 43.266 4.9 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/28 16:34:11 38.709 43.793 5.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/28 09:47:58 38.502 43.569 9.9 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/28 08:48:09 38.547 43.717 9.9 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/28 00:25:35 38.468 43.279 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/27 15:41:34 38.727 43.598 5.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/26 23:42:28 38.522 43.244 11.5 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/26 23:15:08 38.954 43.721 5.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/26 15:14:38 38.488 43.561 19.7 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/26 12:05:16 38.524 43.716 13.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.7 2011/10/26 03:16:19 38.623 43.237 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/26 02:59:08 38.663 43.456 10.1 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/25 23:39:05 38.574 43.650 4.5 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/25 15:27:12 38.406 43.658 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.7 2011/10/25 14:55:08 38.750 43.569 19.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.2 2011/10/25 11:03:57 38.546 43.213 28.4 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.2 2011/10/25 06:36:19 38.592 43.603 10.6 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/25 00:32:17 38.286 43.218 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.7 2011/10/24 23:55:15 38.462 43.620 7.6 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/24 22:13:32 38.615 43.163 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/24 16:51:25 38.711 43.711 7.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/24 16:40:26 38.723 43.644 15.5 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.9 2011/10/24 15:28:06 38.617 43.166 14.2 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/24 13:07:56 38.789 43.633 4.5 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/24 10:30:20 38.580 43.566 17.4 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.8 2011/10/24 08:49:20 38.529 43.548 6.7 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.7 2011/10/24 08:28:27 38.625 43.514 6.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/24 08:12:13 38.620 43.666 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/24 06:44:57 38.743 43.345 5.4 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/24 05:54:58 38.648 43.304 10.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.8 2011/10/24 04:43:04 38.504 43.240 24.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/24 04:18:46 38.730 43.270 5.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 3.9 2011/10/24 02:23:14 38.737 43.161 2.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.0 2011/10/24 01:03:04 38.847 43.648 2.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.2 2011/10/24 00:50:48 38.448 43.520 11.2 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.3 2011/10/23 23:34:42 38.397 43.601 11.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.8 2011/10/23 22:21:31 38.540 43.149 9.9 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 6.0 2011/10/23 20:45:37 38.555 43.161 9.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/23 19:48:56 38.530 43.253 12.2 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/23 19:43:27 38.393 43.285 17.7 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.8 2011/10/23 19:06:07 38.757 43.314 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.9 2011/10/23 18:53:50 38.601 43.374 21.6 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/23 18:27:02 38.383 43.642 24.6 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.1 2011/10/23 18:10:46 38.592 43.187 9.6 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.2 2011/10/23 16:38:47 38.644 43.447 8.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/23 16:05:10 38.633 43.600 9.7 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/23 15:58:00 38.532 43.308 23.2 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.8 2011/10/23 15:24:30 38.478 43.243 14.8 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.0 2011/10/23 14:52:50 38.518 43.270 20.7 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/23 13:17:03 38.622 43.666 10.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.2 2011/10/23 13:06:50 38.370 43.497 17.0 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.5 2011/10/23 12:56:47 38.670 43.487 10.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.4 2011/10/23 12:42:11 38.428 43.368 12.5 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.6 2011/10/23 12:03:10 38.575 43.355 13.2 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.6 2011/10/23 11:32:40 38.696 43.403 17.5 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 4.9 2011/10/23 11:10:51 38.415 43.154 9.3 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.6 2011/10/23 10:56:50 38.668 43.332 20.4 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 7.1 2011/10/23 10:41:21 38.691 43.497 16.0 EASTERN TURKEY

reply to post by taws6

I read that part of Turkey is prone to earthquakes.
I think it's normal. I'm not for sure though.

The normal part of my brain thinks this is a normal occurence and that turkey has for ever been shocked by earthquakes...

The paranoid part, thinks this is just so obvious, when turkey started telling israel to back off and telling them how they really felt, then kaboom earthquakes baby...

Well the paranoid part usualy loses in these debates...

yes it is normal , with that size of a main shock..
take a look at new zeland same thing happening there . after shocks can last for years after a big quake.

Yes normal, for the entire Mediterranean region. It goes all the way through Asia too, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.

Expect quakes there, if you don't you will be surprised all the time.

When you need to start being concerned is when activity is really low, IMHO.

Areas where having quake activity is most interesting are locations that have not been active in millions of years, such as some recent examples over the past few months.

What does it all mean?
Who knows?
Plate tectonics is a good start though.

Originally posted by alysha.angel
yes it is normal , with that size of a main shock..
take a look at new zeland same thing happening there . after shocks can last for years after a big quake.

Some areas are essentially in constant tectonic motion for all general intents and purposes I suppose.

Good examples are Japan and California. There are probably countless minute nano-quakes that we don't even have instruments sensitive enough to record.

Also it's a matter of perspective I suppose. In the end we can say the entire Earth is in motion but we probably won't have equipment sophisticated enough for awhile to actually record it.

And there are other relative motions involved but separate, such as the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, the Moon around the Earth, and the Sun around it's spiral arm rotating around the galactic center. And then the galaxies' relative motion to other ones.

I don't know. It's a fun subject to ponder. The Earth is moving in all kinds of ways, I am pretty convinced.

reply to post by muzzleflash

Areas where having quake activity is most interesting are locations that have not been active in millions of years, such as some recent examples over the past few months.

Could you provide some examples of locations that have not been active for "millions of years" that are now active?

I'm intrigued

Unfortunately, it is perfectly normal after a major earthquake for aftershocks of this magnatude to occur. I have colleagues where I work whose families live in this area of Turkey. One of them already knows that several extended family members are dead.

Originally posted by alysha.angel
yes it is normal , with that size of a main shock..
take a look at new zeland same thing happening there . after shocks can last for years after a big quake.

ok
by comparison here are the aftershocks after the 7.4 Kermadec Islands New Zeland Region earthquake that happened around the same time as the turkey one, this one happened on 10/21/11. These aftershocks seem a little more spread out around the region and there aren't as many.

earthquake.usgs.gov...

MAP 5.4 2011/10/28 11:06:58 -28.559 -175.929 35.5 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.6 2011/10/27 05:04:05 -26.744 -178.104 75.8 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 2011/10/26 00:13:22 -26.812 -176.612 36.0 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 2011/10/25 02:23:29 -29.408 -175.964 39.4 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.0 2011/10/24 17:34:58 -31.788 -179.130 99.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.9 2011/10/24 11:49:58 -29.773 -176.280 36.2 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.9 2011/10/23 11:39:04 -31.964 -178.303 51.9 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION

Originally posted by Argyll
reply to post by muzzleflash

 

Areas where having quake activity is most interesting are locations that have not been active in millions of years, such as some recent examples over the past few months.

Could you provide some examples of locations that have not been active for "millions of years" that are now active?

I'm intrigued

ats thread

I eventually discovered this tidbit:

The Balcones Fault zone was most recently active about 15 million years ago during the Miocene epoch. This activity was related to subsidence of the Texas Coastal Plain, most likely from the large amount of sediment deposited on it by Texas rivers. The Balcones Fault zone is not active today, and is in one of the lowest-risk zones for earthquakes in the United States.[5]

That's from the wiki which I think is on page 2 or 3 whenever I came across that.

Also I listed the USGS links to the history of quakes in this specific location (Zero recorded)

So having a 4.4 + a dozen aftershocks is incredible. I am still blown away honestly.

There is a huge controversy over if it's fracking quakes, but with a 4.4 honestly I think it could be natural most likely (sorry haha). Just my opinion of course.
There is also the potential of underground gas well explosions of other sorts.

If you find out anything additional about it, it's thread worthy and you should post a thread about your findings.
If you can dispute anything I provided please do, I would like to learn more and am open to anything contrary you may wish to provide.

Originally posted by LibertyLover
Unfortunately, it is perfectly normal after a major earthquake for aftershocks of this magnatude to occur. I have colleagues where I work whose families live in this area of Turkey. One of them already knows that several extended family members are dead.

Yes it is very unfortunate but if we plan for this it can improve the odds of our handling the situation better.

It is very common that large portions of the deaths from an initial large quake occur during significant aftershock activity, as debris and wreckage are shifted and moved around. This can create incredibly fatal situations for people trapped in somewhat stable enclosed rubble.

It pains me to even imagine the reality of it all.

Originally posted by taws6

Originally posted by alysha.angel
yes it is normal , with that size of a main shock..
take a look at new zeland same thing happening there . after shocks can last for years after a big quake.

ok
by comparison here are the aftershocks after the 7.4 Kermadec Islands New Zeland Region earthquake that happened around the same time as the turkey one, this one happened on 10/21/11. These aftershocks seem a little more spread out around the region and there aren't as many.

earthquake.usgs.gov...

MAP 5.4 2011/10/28 11:06:58 -28.559 -175.929 35.5 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.6 2011/10/27 05:04:05 -26.744 -178.104 75.8 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 2011/10/26 00:13:22 -26.812 -176.612 36.0 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 2011/10/25 02:23:29 -29.408 -175.964 39.4 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.0 2011/10/24 17:34:58 -31.788 -179.130 99.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.9 2011/10/24 11:49:58 -29.773 -176.280 36.2 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.9 2011/10/23 11:39:04 -31.964 -178.303 51.9 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION

Kermadecs is subduction zone - very different dynamics. Big quakes occur often and aren't followed by large aftershock sequences.

By comparison, here in Canterbury NZ we have now had almost 8000 aftershocks since our 7.1 quake last September and we continue to have them... Ours was not a subduction quake. Neither was Turkey..

www.canterburyquakelive.co.nz...