Determining the Deformations of the Earth's Surface after the Earthquakes in Turkey-Syria of 06 February 2023 - Initial Results

Abstract

Two devastating earthquakes of magnitude M_W 7.8 and M_W 7.5 hit Turkey on February 6, 2023. The earthquakes occurred in the East Anatolian Fault Zone, westwards of Gaziantep, Turkey. The quake was followed by intensive aftershock activity. This study presents initial results from interferometric processing of SAR data from the European Space Agency Sentinel-1 mission revealing the affected area and the magnitude of the deformations that occurred after the earthquakes. The produced maps are combination of data from several sources. Data of the epicenters of the events are from EMSC¹, and the active faults are from EDAF², both considered to be the driving forces of these ground movements. SAR data were used to produce information showing the actual surface displacements. It needs to be highlighted that the said information reflects not the consequences of the single seismic event but the effect of all earthquakes that took place in the investigated region between the dates of registration by the SAR instrument. In this paper, the presented results are only part of the larger set of interferograms and maps of the derived from them vertical displacements.