The 2023 Southeast Türkiye Seismic Sequence: Rupture of a Complex Fault Network

Abstract

On 6 February 2023, southeastern Türkiye experienced two Mw 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes. The earthquake sequence caused widespread damage and tens of thousands of casualties in Türkiye and Syria. We analyze mainshocks and aftershocks, combining complementary source characterization techniques, relying on local, regional, and teleseismic data. Backprojection analysis and finite source inversion for the mainshocks resolve coseismic slip, rupture length, and propagation mode along the main faults, whereas centroid moment tensor inversion for 221 aftershocks resolves details of the fault network. The first mainshock nucleated on a splay fault and activated the neighboring East Anatolian fault zone (EAFZ). It ruptured bilaterally along ∼500 km first toward northeast and later to south-southwest on multiple, previously partly dormant fault segments. The second mainshock ruptured the east–west-oriented Sürgü-Misis fault zone (SMFZ), reaching a slip of 7 m. The analysis of aftershocks with heterogeneous moment tensors retrospectively reconstructs rupture details. Along the main strand of the EAFZ, they map the geometry of different segments in unprecedented detail, whereas along the SMFZ they illuminate the geometry and behavior of large structures for the first time. Our work sheds light on multiple aspects of rupture evolution and provides new insights into the devastating earthquake sequence.