Seismic Tension Building Near Istanbul
Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - 15:50
in Earth & Climate
By tracking seismic shifts, researchers say they may be able to predict a major quake off the coast of Istanbul.When a segment of a major fault line goes quiet, it can mean one of two things - an inactive “seismic gap” which is the result of two tectonic plates placidly gliding past each other, or the seismic gap may be filled by an earthquake after quietly building tension for decades.Researchers say they have found evidence for both types of behavior on different segments of the North Anatolian Fault — one of the most energetic earthquake zones in the world. The fault, similar in scale to California’s San Andreas Fault, stretches for about 745 miles across northern Turkey and into the Aegean Sea. read more