Study of seismic fault underway
Greek scientists are participating in an international study aimed at monitoring the North Anatolian Fault, one of the world’s most active earthquake zones near Istanbul, so that they can forecast potentially catastrophic earthquakes. The study, to be carried out by 50 scientists from all over the world, is to begin with the installation of several sensors in the seabed of the Sea of Marmara at different locations along the fault line. This will be done by a special underwater vessel which will drill several deep holes into the seabed into which the sensors will be inserted. «These sensors will record various seismic parameters, such as seismicity, distortion of seabed layers and the expulsion of gases,» said Gerasimos Houliaras of the Athens Observatory’s Geodynamic Institute. «These physical parameters will give us useful information about the behavior of the fault,» Houliaras said. The aim of the study is to clarify a series of questions that will allow scientists to understand how the fault operates. The study will try to determine which parts of the fault are subject to the most pressure, how the fault’s structural irregularities influence the incubation of an earthquake, how the fault develops at different depths of the seabed and whether there may be some larger fault at a greater depth. The data yielded by the study is to be analyzed at a laboratory which is to be set up on the Princes’ Islands, off Istanbul. «Scientists around the world, particularly Turkish colleagues, are extremely concerned about the development of the fault,» said Houliaras. «What worries them most is that the seismic risks are greater at a point just 20 or 30 kilometers from Istanbul,» he said, adding that a 7 Richter quake would have «catastrophic repercussions» on Istanbul where there are many old, unstable buildings. Greek scientists involved in the study are to focus on the section of the fault that crosses through Greek waters, beyond the Dardanelles Straits. There are already seismologists on Lemnos and in Rodopi and another one is to be assigned to Samothraki, which sits right on the fault line, Houliaras said.
