The December 2nd, 2015 Bingöl, Eastern Anatolia-TURKEY, earthquake (Mw = 5.3): A rupture on optimally oriented fault plane

Abstract

Abstract Eastern Anatolia is a ∼2\u202fkm high plateau shaped by the continent-continent collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The left lateral East Anatolian Fault Zone, the right lateral North Anatolian Fault Zone and the Bitlis fold-thrust belt are the major tectonic boundaries of this convergence zone. The Arabian-Eurasian collision has resulted in high volcanism and well recorded seismic activity in Eastern Anatolia and its surroundings. Karliova Junction is located at the intersection of these major fault systems and contains secondary faults such as the Karakocan fault and the Sancak-Uzunpinar fault. We processed high quality waveform data collected from a recent seismic activity in the proximity of the city of Bingol where the largest event is the moderate-size earthquake (Mw\u202f=\u202f5.3) occurred on 2 December 2015. This event is located to the west of Karliova Junction and to the northwest of Sancak-Uzunpinar fault. The spatial distribution of the aftershocks points out unmapped faults with NNW-SSE alignment towards the west of Sancak-Uzunpinar fault. Aftershock depth distribution indicates a nearly 15\u202fkm deep brittle seismogenic zone. The relocated aftershock distributions and seismic moment calculations yield a rupture area 9\u202fkm in length and 5\u202fkm in width with an average 8\u202fcm of slip. The latest four earthquakes preceding the 2015\u202fEq with magnitudes larger than Mw\u202f>\u202f6 enhanced the Coulomb stress failure in the 2015 Bingol Earthquake rupture area. The ruptured fault plane is in-line with the optimally oriented right-lateral strike-slip faults.