New GPS-derived velocity field for Marmara region: Implications for the kinematics along the North Anatolian Fault Zone

Abstract

The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is a major strike-slip fault system accommodating the relative motion between the Anatolian and Eurasian plates, extending approximately 1200 km from eastern Turkey to the Aegean Sea in the west. Despite several large earthquakes along the NAFZ during the last century, the northern strand beneath Sea of Marmara has been seismically silent since the 1766 events, raising concerns about future seismic hazards. The ~160-km-long seismic gap, bounded by the 1912 and 1999 ruptures, is considered to have a potential nucleation for a future M > 7 earthquake due to significant strain accumulation over the past two centuries.