Time and Space Distributions of Intermediate Focal Depth Earthquakes in the South-West of Turkey

Abstract

In this study, space-time distributions of earthquakes which took place in the south-west of Turkey (between 1900–1985) have been investigated. The area under consideration is between 34–48 °N and 27–32 °E. The focal depths of the earthquakes turned out to be h ≥ 70 km and the magnitudes M ≥ 4.5. Studies have been carried out on earthquakes in the Aegean arc which extends into the south of Turkey. Hereby, the correlation of the south Cyprus arc with the Aegean arc in the East Mediterranean area has also been studied. The presence of these two arcs and the correlation of these during a large period of time has been confirmed. Intermediate focal depth earthquakes have been associated with Benioff zones in the south-west of Turkey. The parameters of these earthquakes have been determined by the Magnitude Frequency relationship Log ΣN = a + bM. On the other hand, the time distribution has been investigated to find out whether these intermediate focal depth earthquakes in the Aegean arc belong to deep tectonics or not.