Mw 7.2 EASTERN TURKEY on October 23rd 2011 at 10:41 UTC

Last update: 23 April 2012 at 11:46 UTC

Earthquake details | Tectonic settings | Aftershocks locations
Were you there ? | Source mechanism | Epicenter location

Earthquake details

An event of magnitude Mw 7.2 occurred on 2011/10/23 at 10:41:22.0 UTC close to the city of Van in Eastern Turkey. The earthquake took place at shallow depth (10km) on the shore of lake Van. It has been largely felt in Turkey and in the neighbouring countries. More than 600 people died. Around 2000 buildings collapsed and 1350 people have been injured according to the latest reports. The city of Ercis is particularly affected. Rescue teams struggled to help the population and to extract victims from the rubbles. A long serie of aftershocks followed the main quake. More information on the main shock is available here.

On November 9^th at 19:23 UTC, a strong 5.7-magnitude earthquake rocked again eastern Turkey, killing at least 7 people and toppled 25 buildings in the city of Van. Rescue workers had managed to pull out 25 survivors from the rubble of three collapsed buildings, including a top hotel where journalists and foreign aid workers were staying, authorities said Thursday. This earthquake is located 40 km south of the M7.2 epicenter that struck this region on October 23^rd.

A video posted by a witness. Video of the security camera in Van, Turkey (30 Km of the epicenter) taken during the shake.

Earthquake reports

Evaluation report published by the Bogazici University (Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute). Most recent information available on Bogazici University web page (Details on the tectonics, hazard, ground motions and photos of the damages)
Preliminary report of the METU-EERC and Earthquake Department (AFAD)
Comparing the current impact of the Van Earthquake to past earthquakes in Eastern Turkey by the CEDIM Forensic Earthquake Analysis Group
Final report on Van Earthquake by Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency Earthquake Department, Ankara (updated on Dec. 23rd)

Tectonic settings

The country lies in a seismically active region. The Arabian plate moves northward relative to Eurasia leads to lateral motion of the
Anatolian block to the west and the Northeast Anatolian block to the east. The movements are centered along the active fault zones, mainly the North Anatolian Fault, East Anatolian Fault.

The earthquake took place east of the North and East Anatolian faults, on the Bitlis suture zone.

In 2003, an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 occurred on May 1st in Bingol 250km west of Van. On January 27th another earthquake of magnitude 6.1 affected Pülümür, also west of Van.

The main event occurring in the vicinity of the Lake took place in November 1976 in Caldiran, about 70km away from Van with a magnitude of 6.3. This seismic event and the severe weather conditions raised the death toll to 3,900 and more than 9,000 buildings were damaged.

Scheme of the Eurasian-Arabic plate collision (USGS)

Aftershocks locations

A long serie of aftershocks has followed the main quake. In 72 hours, 7 events of magnitude larger than 5 occurred and more than 570 aftershocks of magnitude larger than 3 were recorded.

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Download Google Earth/KML file of afterschocks locations (Automatic update - requires an internet connexion)

Aftershocks time distribution

Were you there ?

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The results of the questionnaires are used to compute the intensities, which quantifies the effects of an earthquake. A macroseismic intensity map is then computed (Intensities are expressed in EMS-98 scale)

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