While the difference in the magnitude between the two earthquakes is a mere 0.3, the second one is two times bigger than the first, and released 2.8 times more energy, according to an online tool hosted by the US Geological Survey.
NEW DELHI: Turkey is known to be prone to earthquakes, lying as it does at the junction of three tectonic plates — Eurasian, Arabian and African. Yet Monday’s two large earthquakes, interspersed with a number of smaller shocks, stand out because of their location.
Turkey lies on the small Anatolian Plate, sandwiched among the three large tectonic plates. Of the two major fault systems running across the Anatolian Plate, the North Anatolian Fault has been at the centre of many previous earthquakes. But it was the East Anatolian Fault that triggered Monday’s devastation.