Expert warns of stress buildup in Aegean, Marmara after Çanakkale quake

ISTANBUL

Following a 5.2 magnitude earthquake jolting the Aegean coast of the northwestern province of Çanakkale on Jan. 21, an expert has called attention to the stress buildup in both the country’s Northern Aegean and Marmara regions.

The earthquake occurred around 11 p.m., sending tremors through the nearby provinces of Balıkesir, İzmir, Bursa, Tekirdağ and Istanbul.

Following the incident, seismologist Naci Görür evaluated the impact and outcomes of the earthquake on social media, noting that the earthquake took place in the Edremit fault zone, the southern extension of the North Anatolian fault.

Görür further signaled the potential for future earthquakes to strike the Marmara and Aegean regions as a result of the stress accumulation in the region, recalling the terrifying 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the same area back in 1944.

Türkiye witnessed the deadliest disaster in its modern history on Feb. 6, 2023, when a 7.7. magnitude earthquake struck the country’s south, followed by another 7.6 magnitude tremor hours later, resulting in the loss of 53,537 citizens and causing thousands of homes to reduced to rubble.

In the wake of the disastrous earthquakes, concerns over an expected large-scale earthquake in the Marmara region have escalated, with experts urging the authorities to take firm steps to address the potential risk.

At a meeting held on the first anniversary of Feb. 6 earthquakes, they warned that the seismic gap extending to 130 kilometers in the Marmara Sea constitutes one of the main causes of the expected major earthquake.

“It is clear that we will experience an earthquake above 7 magnitude in the Marmara Sea. According to some academics, this earthquake can happen very soon or not take place for another 50 years. But we know that there will be an earthquake here,” Professor Dr. Haluk Özener, the director of the Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, explained back then.

As the second anniversary of the deadly disaster approach, experts still remain alerted about a potential future earthquake in the region, possibly causing extensive damage in the metropolis of Istanbul.