Earthquake: sooner or later we will see 6 on the Richter scale again in Greece

The big earthquake in Turkey has attracted the attention of scientists who are studying how the phenomenon evolved – how it is connected to the increased seismic activity in Greece

“Nature has its own laws. Sooner or later the 6s will come true in Greece. Let’s not be delusional,” seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos said in an interview with ERT.

Mr. Papadopoulos referred to major earthquakes in Turkey, explaining why seismologists are examining whether tremors will travel south from the epicenter of the February 6 earthquake and whether increased seismic activity in Greece is related to the fatal blow to Enceladus.

“The fact is that this region of the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey-Syria, is characterized by the presence of three very large faults. And when we say that they are very large, each of them is hundreds of kilometers long, like the East Anatolian fault, which was activated a few weeks ago with the two earthquakes. The Very Big Two and all that followed.

Connection of the three defects

And by analyzing the seismic sequence in an area of ​​300 kilometers in the Turkish countryside, he indicated that the aftershocks reached this triple junction, where these three main faults meet, near the Antioch region.

In response to a question about whether there is a risk of earthquakes moving south towards Cyprus, Mr. Papadopoulos emphasized that the areas that could be mainly affected by the big earthquake, which is the main one, were the closest regions of Turkey and Syria.

“At the end of the rift on the border between Turkey and Syria, but also near Cyprus, a very strong earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale occurred, complete destruction, in the area south of Antioch. This is not something that goes outside the normal and expected limits. On the contrary, it is within expectations.”

He even added that the activated fault has a very long length and it is very reasonable to expect post-seismic activity along the entire length of this fault. However, it is precisely there that the other two faults meet the East Anatolian Rift. One is the Dead Sea Rift, which runs south through Syria, Lebanon and Israel all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.

6 Richter is not in the realm of science fiction

On the other side, he said, comes the northeast end of the Cypriot seismic arc, another important fault system.

“The trajectory so far shows that magnitudes 5, 5.5 and 6 (Richter) are not in the realm of science fiction. It is well within expected limits. A lot of attention is needed for two reasons: first, because seismic activity may migrate a little further south or a little further south Western, that is, where it has not yet manifested itself, ”added the seismologist.

Speaking of the new victims counted by Turkey, he indicated that the buildings were subjected to stress from previous strong earthquakes, so they are very vulnerable and collapse more easily.

“What was seen a few days ago was the fact that we had several earthquakes of relatively small to medium strength, 3.5 – 4 on the Richter scale, but this lasted for a few days (…) the seismic activity is still low, but it happens a lot,” Mr. Papadopoulos estimated .

Concluding his position on the earthquake sequence in Turkey, he said, “Nature has its own laws. Sooner or later, it will achieve the 6 seconds in Greece. Let’s not be delusional about it,” stressing that we must be vigilant.