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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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1986 Malatya Earthquake
The 1986 Malatya earthquake was a Mw 6.1 earthquake that occurred in the early morning hours of May 5, 1986. It registered a maximum Modified Mercalli Intensity of VIII (Severe). It occurred near the city of Malatya, Turkey.

Tectonic setting

Map of the Anatolian plate, featuring the East Anatolian Fault.

Most of Turkey lies on the Anatolian plate. Deformation from is accommodated through three main faults: the eastern portion of the Hellenic Trench accommodates convergence between the Aegean Sea plate and the Anatolian plate in the south, the North Anatolian Fault in the north accommodates the collision between the Arabian plate and the Eurasian plate which forces the Anatolian west, and the East Anatolian Fault in the east, on which this earthquake occurred, accommodates the same deformation.

Earthquake

The Mw 6.1 earthquake struck near the city of Malatya, Turkey at 06:35 TRT on May 5. It occurred at a shallow depth of 9.6 km (6.0 mi). The focal mechanism of the earthquake indicates strike slip faulting with a strike in agreement with rupture along the East Anatolian Fault. The amount of aftershocks that occurred were small, but a noteworthy Mw 5.8 earthquake rocked the same area only a month later. The mainshock occurred along a section of the East Anatolian Fault which meets the Bitlis Thrust Zone. The left-lateral Sürgü Fault may have been associated with the event due to its proximity to the epicenter.

Damage

The mainshock killed 15 people and injured a hundred more. Dozens of houses were reportedly damaged. The worst hit town was Doğanşehir, where 13 people were killed and 100 houses collapsed. In the neighboring town of Gölbaşı, the quake took two more lives, destroyed the town's mosque, and caused schools to be closed. At the nearby Sürgü Dam, 10 kilometers to the northeast, very strong shaking caused cracks to appear in the dam. The largest of the cracks were up to 150 meters in length, 20 centimeters in width, and 3 meters deep. A strong aftershock on June 6 caused an additional fatality and four more injuries.

See also

References

  1. ^ "M 6.1 – 11 km SSW of Do?an?ehir, Turkey". United States Geological Survey.
  2. ^ "Büyük Depremler". Kandilli Observatory (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  3. ^ Ozkan, Y. (November 1, 1990). "Damage at Sürgü Dam during May 5, 1986, Malatya, Turkey, Earthquake". Earthquake Spectra. 6 (4): 779–796. Bibcode:1990EarSp...6..779O. doi:10.1193/1.1585596. S2CID 109329620. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  4. ^ Taymaz, Tuncay; Eyidog̃an, Haluk; Jackson, James (1991). "Source parameters of large earthquakes in the East Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey)". Geophysical Journal International. 106 (3): 537–550. Bibcode:1991GeoJI.106..537T. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.1991.tb06328.x.
  5. ^ "Quake in Southeast Turkey Leaves 15 Dead And 100 Hurt". The New York Times. 6 May 1986. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Quake kills at least one in Turkey". UPI.
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